


Intricate Lines from A Broken Hymn

by polychromeboxes



Category: EXO (Band), f(x)
Genre: F/M, will add characters as i update
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-23
Updated: 2014-12-27
Packaged: 2018-01-09 18:18:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1149270
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/polychromeboxes/pseuds/polychromeboxes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Soojung lives in a world where everything is decided by a single entity. This year, she turns eighteen and is now required to enter The Ceremony of Transition where she meets the people who will change her life forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Beginning of The End

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soojung leaves home

The sun is just about to rise when Soojung leaves the house on her bicycle. She rides through the quiet streets of Sinukwan listening to the chirps of the birds as the region slowly wakes up. The baker waves at her as she passes by and Soojung smiles at him. She likes the old quiet man for he doesn’t gossip about her family like the rest of the people do. It has been the talk of the town when her father suddenly disappears without a trace and only a year later the people turn to them with pitiful eyes as her sister, Sooyeon, was transitioned to a different region because of the Ceremony Of Transition.

Each year, boys and girls from all the four regions who turn eighteen are sent away from their homes to undergo the ceremony. It always happens in the Dome, a huge structure built at the center of the capital, Hannan. When Soojung was younger, she had been afraid of the massive circular building. Soojung remembers crying when Sooyeon told her that she has to go there. The fact that Sooyeon never went back, added to her fear more.

Soojung arrives at the vineyard and she immediately goes towards the green house built at the back. She climbs off her bicycle before opening the door and stepping inside the room. Her mother is at the other side, tending to her plants. Soojung slowly walks closer to her until she is standing directly behind her mother.

“Mom,” She calls.

Her mother hums, acknowledging Soojung but didn’t turn around to face her. Soojung rolls her eyes at this. She had never really bonded with her mother ever since her father and Sooyeon left.

“Mom I need you to look at something.” She tries again.

This time, her mother does turn around. Her face always reminds Soojung of her sister although she doesn’t remember seeing Sooyeon look this emotionless.

“What is it?” Her mother asks.

Soojung wordlessly hands her an envelope. A postman had arrived at their house early that morning and left that at their doorstep. Soojung already read what was written in it, now she watches as her mother does the same.

Her mother reads the letter then sighs. “Well, I can’t say I haven’t been expecting this.” She says. “It is spring already.”

The letter is a formal invitation for the Ceremony. An invitation for Soojung who turn eighteen this year. It is her turn to be sent to the Dome.

“We’re leaving tomorrow.” Soojung says.

Her mother folds the letter then puts it inside the envelope before giving it back to Soojung. She stands up and pats Soojung on the shoulder. “I understand.”

Soojung is tempted to wish to be transitioned to another region, but familial ties chain her on the brown soil of her mother’s vineyard.

 

* * *

 

 

Soojung finds herself curled up in the middle of hundreds of barrels of wines in their storage room. She nibbles on a piece of bread as a small kitten paws at her shoe.

“Where’s your mom?” She asks the small creature, its big eyes blink at her. Suddenly, they hear heavy footsteps and it startles the stray, making it run away. Soojung frowns as the owner of the footsteps arrive.

“Hey kid,” Jonghyun says. He is the son of one of the workers and Soojung once thought that he would marry Sooyeon someday. But Sooyeon was transitioned to a different region and now Jonghyun is a husband to the daughter of the owner of the dairy farm.

Jonghyun throws a huge basket at her and Soojung quickly catches it. “We’re going to pick the grapes. Come help us if you’re not going to do anything fruitful.”

“Everything in Sinukwan is fruitful.” Soojung mutters, tucking the basket under her arm.

“Not cows.” Jonghyun counters. They start walking out of the storage room. “Those monsters are noisy and they shit a lot.”

Soojung laughs at him and Jonghyun fondly ruffles her hair. The sun has become brighter now and Soojung has to squint as the light hits her eye.

“You’re eighteen this year, right? Jonghyun suddenly asks.

“Yeah,” Soojung frowns. “They sent a letter this morning. I’m leaving for the Dome tomorrow.”

Jonghyun stops walking. He turns to Soojung, a wistful smile on his face. “Good luck kid.”

They stop talking after that, each one going through their own work quietly. Soojung starts thinking about the things that she has to pack, which one to bring and which one to donate to the charity house near the school. They’re only allowed to bring two bags with them so there will be a lot to donate if she doesn’t come back.

Soojung arrives home in the evening to find the house is still empty. Her mother is still probably in the vineyard over working herself as usual. She goes straight to the kitchen to prepare for dinner, pulling out ingredients and heating the pan. Once she finishes, she stores her mother’s food and eats her own. Soojung sighs as she glances at the almost empty dinner table. She barely remembers how it was when her father and sister were still here, she was too young back then.

But she remembers her father as a gentle man who always listened to her, his arms steady and strong as they lift her whenever she demands it. She was spoiled rotten by him. Her sister was the same. Sooyeon protected her from everyone and taught her how to defend herself from bullies at school. Her mother had always been impassive around her but they were happy.

The sound of the front door was loud and it startles Soojung. She licks her lips as she stand up to clean the table, bringing her plate and cup to the sink to wash them. She hears her mother drop her bag on the couch before her footsteps starts becoming louder as she enter the kitchen.

“What time will the bus leave tomorrow?” Her mother asks before sitting on a chair and removing the plastic foil wrapped around her dinner’s plate.

“We have to be at school before eight in the morning.” Soojung answers. The dishes are clean now, so she sets them aside to dry. She turns to face her mother, crossing her arms and leaning her back on the counter.

Her mother nods. “I’ll wake you up at six.” She starts eating and Soojung knows that’s her way of ending the conversation. But she wouldn’t let it end like that.

“What if I don’t come back?”

“Then I’ll have to donate your things.” Her mother says calmly. “And wish you will have a good life.”

Soojung blinks angrily. “Don’t you care about me at all?” She hisses.

Her mother drops her spoon on her plate, sighing. She looks up at Soojung and for a second, Soojung might have seen a flicker of guilt in her eyes, but it could also just be a trick of the light.

“I care about you.” She says softly. “But you had always been your father’s daughter.”

Soojung shakes her head. “Why do you always say that?”

She pushes herself off the counter and stomps towards her room, slamming the door shut behind her. She doesn’t understand why her mother likes saying puzzling words to her and she often ignores them but Soojung is leaving tomorrow and she cannot help but wish for her mother to be nice to her even for just once. She pulls out her suitcase from under her bed before throwing the door of her closet open. She starts pulling out clothes and throwing them on top of her bed, making sure to put enough underwear in the pile.

Soojung grabs a couple of frames from her side table, photos of her and Sooyeon two years ago, carefully putting it inside her suitcase. She starts folding her clothes and dumping them inside her suitcase. When she can’t put anything to it anymore she opens another bag and puts her things inside until it becomes full too. The suitcase closes with a loud zip and Soojung sighs as she flops on the bed, lying on her back and staring at her white ceiling.

She closes her eyes and wills herself to sleep.

 

* * *

 

A loud knock on the door wakes Soojung up. She grumbles, turns to lie on her stomach and buries her face on her pillow. The sound of knocking stops, her mother’s voice replacing it.

“Wake up Soojung.”

Soojung pushes herself up until she is kneeling on top of her bed. She looks out her window and watches as the sun slowly rise, turning the sky from purple to orange.

She stands up and walks closer to the window, pulling her blanket along with her. A thought comes up to her, sudden and frightening.

“Soojung are you up?” Her mother calls.

_I want to be transitioned to another place._

“I’m awake.” Soojung says, voice jarringly loud.

She fixes her bed before stepping out of her room, hoisting her bag on her shoulders and pulling the suitcase behind her. When she arrives in their living room, her mother is sitting on the couch, quietly sipping her tea.

“There’s breakfast in the kitchen. Eat first before we leave.”

The bread is warm and the cheese is newly bought. Soojung eats them in silence. Her mother comes to stand by the entrance of the kitchen just as Soojung finishes drinking her glass of milk.

“Are you done?” Her mother asks.

“Yes.” Soojung wipes her mouth with a napkin before standing up. “I am.”

Her mother nods. “I placed a dress on top of your bed. Wear it today.”

The dress is beautiful, Soojung notes. It is color blue, almost the same as the color of the afternoon sky but just a few shades darker. She puts it on and finds that the dress fits just right. It hits her then that this could be the first and last gift her mother has given her. She might not like her mother much but she will treasure this dress. She styles her hair into a loose bun before getting out.

She finds her mother already putting her bag and suitcase inside the trunk of their car. She stands on the side of the vehicle, waiting for her mother to notice her arrival. Her mother looks up and Soojung is surprised to find a small smile on her face as she looks at Soojung.

“It looks good on you.” Her mother says.

“Thank you.” Soojung whispers.

Her mother hums, closing the trunk before walking towards the other side of the car to get into the driver’s seat. Soojung opens the door to the passenger side and climbs in. The engine roars to life and her mother manoeuvres it out into the driveway. Soojung watches through the rear-view mirror as their house become smaller as they get farther from it.

There are children walking on the sidewalk, probably on their way to the school. Soojung recognizes some of them as the children of the workers in the vineyard. Their bags are small and Soojung knows that some of them might not have any books in them. They have a scarcity of books that started last year and it has come to a point where three children have to share one book.

When they arrive at the school vicinity, Soojung sees three buses parked in front of the main building of their school, there are already other people, ceremony participant, standing near the buses. Some of them with parents while the others alone. Her mother stops the car just close enough to the buses. She unbuckles her seatbelt and wordlessly steps out of the car, Soojung follows her. They haul her suitcase out of the trunk and her mother helps her in putting the straps of her bag through her arms.

The buses are huge, the emblem of the capital painted on its sides. Soojung swipes her eyes over the silver hawk spreading its wings and the star behind it. Her heart starts beating faster and she suddenly feels cold so she wraps both arms around her body.

“I’m scared.” She admits and she hears her mother sigh.

“You don’t have to be.” Her mother says. “It’ll be fine.”

Soojung looks at her face and then down to her wrist where a metal bracelet is wrapped. “And then they will make me wear that too.” Soojung says to her.

Her mother lifts her hand up and looks at the bracelet. The bracelet is used as an identification device for all the adults in the country. No one will be able to travel from region to region without them, and even if you do have them, you will still need documents approved by the capital to pass through the gates separating the regions. The bracelets are only given to individuals after they finish the Ceremony.

“Every adult wears them.” Her mother murmurs, face blank. “And you’ll be an adult soon.”

“Any advice?” Soojung exhales, titling her head to the side.

Her mother shrugs. “Try to socialize. Find people you can trust, you have an eye for that. I believe you’ll do well.”

“Cryptic as usual.” Soojung rolls her eyes. The teacher starts calling out names and Soojung sees one of them waving her over, telling her to get inside the bus.  She turns to her mother. “I should go.”

“Of course.” Her mother nods.

They exchange awkward hugs and then Soojung is climbing the bus. None of her classmates spare her a glance, but Soojung can see the same nervousness that she has reflected on their faces. She finds her seat and is glad to find that it is beside a window. She wants to watch the road as they travel. Her seatmate is a petite girl, freckled and with dark brown hair. She smiles at Soojung but they don’t converse.

Once all the participants find their seats, the teacher assigned on their bus stands in the middle. The woman squeaks when the engine starts. Soojung recognizes her as her odd History teacher. “The travel time from Sinukwan to Hannan is approximately four hours.” If this was a regular class the students will be so raucous and Soojung will have to strain her ears to hear the teacher. But the people in the bus are so quiet even though some of them don’t appear to be listening. “If you didn’t have enough time to sleep last night,” The teacher continues. “I suggest you sleep while we’re on the way. But if you want to see the marvellous turbines of Kaptan then stay awake.”

Teachers from Kaptan stay in their region for three days to teach before going back to Kaptan. They are boastful of their region’s accomplishments specially the turbines because it provides electricity for the country. Soojung sometimes hates them. _People from Kaptan would starve if it wasn’t for Sinukwan,_ Soojung thinks to herself. _They should be thankful._

She leans her head against the window and watches as they pass through the region. She sees their vineyard and Soojung is suddenly overwhelmed by emotions she couldn’t explain.

“Your family manages the vineyard right?” The girl sitting beside her chirps. “My father really likes the wine your family makes. He saves money every week just to buy a bottle.”

“I’m glad.” Soojung says quietly.

“Last night he allowed me to drink one glass.” The girl continues. Soojung closes her eyes when she sees the wheat farm. It will take half an hour until they reach the gates. Soojung could use the time to nap. The girl probably realizes that Soojung’s not interested to hear her prattle so she murmurs a small apology and remains quiet afterwards.

Soojung wakes up again because of the sounds of gasps and excited shrieks. She opens her eyes and the first thing that greets her is a white field where tall structures with rotating blades are built in a straight line.

“The turbines.” Soojung whispers in awe.

The turbines are painted white, just like most of the structures in Kaptan. Soojung sees a couple of tall white buildings with glass windows and glass like walls. She wonders where they keep all the books they didn’t supply to Sinukwan.

“Whoa! Look at that!” A boy sitting in the front exclaims.

Everyone looks out their windows and Soojung’s jaw drops as she sees the gates separating Kaptan from Hannan. The gates are taller and far more terrifying than the one built in Sinukwan. They make Soojung feel more nervous. The bus nears the entrance where two guards, a male and a female, are standing. It halts and Soojung sees the two guards climb up their bus. Their teacher stands up from her seat and silently hands them an envelope.

The guard reads the letter inside the envelope, and then he nods at his partner who motions for the teacher to let them see her identification bracelet. Soojung has never seen how guards scan the identification bracelets before so she is very curious about how it works, and if the silence of the other students in the bus is any indication, then it seems that she isn’t the only one. The teacher shows them the bracelet and the female guard pulls out a small rectangular device from her belt bag. She lets the device hover over the teacher’s bracelet for a moment and then she looks up her and nods. The guards sweep their eyes over the students in the bus and Soojung notices the faint smirk on the male’s lips.

“Good luck on the Ceremony everyone.” The female guard says before getting off the bus, her partner following behind her.

The bus kicks to life again and start to enter the tunnel under the gate. The only way to pass the gates in every region is through the tunnels built under them. The tunnels lengths always depends on how thick the gates are and with the looks of the gate they saw earlier, it looks like it will take a while until Soojung sees sunlight, she almost feels nauseous because of the darkness. Soojung breathes a sigh of relief when they reach the end. Gasps fill the bus when the students finally see the region of Hannan.

Hannan is very different from Sinukwan, Soojung thinks, even better than the glass like buildings of Kaptan. Soojung sees numerous luxurious looking houses and well clothed people walking the streets, none of them looking like they have ever experienced skipping meals.

“They are eating while walking,” The girl beside Soojung murmurs and Soojung slowly nods. They both look at a man walking while munching on bread. The man sees their bus and waves at them while grinning.

“Law makers in Hannan have more than enough food to eat while some children in Sinukwan are dying because of starvation.” Soojung mutters bitterly. “I hope they all choke on their food and die.”

“Don’t say that!” The girl gasps. Soojung turns at her and raises her eyebrows making the girl look down as if scolded. “Or- ... or at least don’t let them hear you say it.”

“You’re the only one listening right now,” Soojung says.

“Well,” The girl shrugs. “You never know.”

Their bus parks in front of a tall building, which Soojung later realizes as the Dome. The students climb off the bus one by one then the teacher makes them form three lines in front of the building. Soojung chances a glance towards the other participants from the other regions. The participants from Kaptan are all tall and lean. Most of them look impassive making Soojung wonder if her mother is a Kaptan native, she chuckles and dismisses this thought because her mother’s parents are both from Sinukwan and are part of their region’s council.

Loud laughter startles Soojung and she turns to see a group of newly arrived participants, all of them have good physique so Soojung assumes that they are from the southern region, Apolaki. Soojung often hears about how their children are trained to be fighters early on even before they are old enough to be participants in the Ceremony. The participants from Cirena are all already inside the building so Soojung didn’t have a chance to see any of them.

Soojung looks at the wide door of the Dome and she feels her knees trembling as their group near it. It seems her fear of the building finally decides to make itself known again. Soojung looks down on her feet and focuses on them instead while she calms her nerves. She starts breathing in and out slowly until she feels brave enough to step forward, but when she does, her head bumps into something hard and she stumbles backward. Soojung would have fallen to the ground if it isn’t for the hand that steadies her. Soojung trails her eyes from the long limb to the face of its owner. Tan skin and heavy lidded eyes of a boy greets her.

Soojung quickly steps back from the boy and stands straight. “Sorry for bumping into you.” She says. “I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“Obviously,” The boy exhales. “Just don’t do it again.” He says before leaving.

Soojung blinks at the back of the boy who is now walking towards the Dome. “How rude,”

A hand on her hand surprises her, just then the voice of their teacher speaks.

“You better get in there miss,” The teacher says. “Or they’ll close the door on you.”

“Right,” Soojung says before hurrying inside the building, eyes focused on the inside and not on the door.

Once in, she finds the participants from her region huddling together, she walks towards them but didn’t join their conversation, and instead she starts observing the place. The first floor of the Dome is very wide and the ceilings high, the walls are painted grey and Soojung observes that there are four elevators, two on each side of the building. Soojung finally sees the participants from Cirena, very smiley people, she notes. The wide doors of the entrance of the Dome close with a loud creak and then a bulky man appears at the front of the crowd. He waits until the participants become quiet before speaking.

“Welcome participants!” The man says. “My name is Yongwoon and I am one of the supervisors for this year’s Ceremony. I will be guiding all of you towards our auditorium where you will meet the other supervisors. Please follow me.”

The man turns around and walks towards another tall door. Soojung and the other participants quietly follow behind him into the room. The auditorium is as wide as the first room they entered, but here there are seats that are more than enough for the number of participants. At the front of the room is a tall stage where a number of adults are standing. The man who introduced himself as Yongwoon climbs the stage and joins them. One man steps in the center of the stage and stands just behind the microphone there. He is wearing an expensive looking black suit and his hair is brushed neatly.

“Hello everyone. My name is Changmin.” The man speaks to the microphone and his voice echoes across the room. “Another spring has come and as all of you know this season marks the start of the ceremony that will make all of the eighteen year olds of our country become fully adults.”

He stops for a moment to scan the large number of participants with his eyes, a proud grin set on his mouth.

“All of you will undergo a series of tests which will help us in determining the type of transition suited for you. These tests will determine the type of skills you have. Skills which will be our guide in choosing which one of you are more inclined in creating ways in providing the country more food, like the people of Sinukwan.”

Soojung rolls her eyes. “He could have just described us as farmers,” She mumbles to herself. “It’s not like we’re embarrassed of it anyway.”

One group of boys from the other side of the auditorium starts chanting the name Apolaki and Changmin laughs at them. “Or become soldiers like the brave citizens of Apolaki.”

“But maybe some of you will become the future doctors of our country, just like those who came from Cirena. “

The participants from Cirena clap and cheer loudly as the name of their region is mentioned. And then the man tilts his head to the side and smirks as he continues his speech.

“Or maybe you are destined to be sent to Kaptan and be the source of power that will help the future of our country.” The tone of the Changmin’s voice turns taunting as the last of his words leave his mouth. “We will help you in determining your future path so we hope you will give your full trust to us and the System.”

The other people behind him nod solemnly as the man speaks about the System. Soojung sometimes wonder why none of the adults ever question it. The System has always been a mysterious entity in their government and Soojung has been told before that only the people in Hannan know what it truly is.

“You will be given keys to your dorm and a temporary identification bracelet later. All the participants will be separated into a number of groups of four people with each member coming from one of the regions. These groups will be led by one of the administrators.” The man explains. “The tests will officially start tomorrow but for now we will be having a feast!”

The crowd cheers excitedly and Soojung hears some of the participants from her region gasp. And later on as they are all seating in front of a long table, Soojung’s eyes widen at the sight of all the food Hannan prepared for them. She has never seen these many foods in her entire life.

“Our festivals are nowhere near this,” Soojung whispers as she picks up a fork. The amount of dishes in front of her is starting to become a bit overwhelming.

“Hannan is a small place,” Changmin suddenly appears behind Soojung eliciting a gasp from her. She turns to the man with wide eyes and Changmin chuckles at her expression. “And we rarely get visitors so when we do,” He motions to the tables filled with food. “We go all out.”

Changmin straightens his back and crosses his arms in front of his chest. “You kids will be transported to your dorms later,” The other people in the table start to listen to him. “There will be a device placed on top of your beds. You will use it to write about your experiences in the Ceremony.”

“Like a diary?” A girl chirps.

“Somewhat yes,” Changmin says. “I’ll take my leave now. Please enjoy the food.”

 

* * *

 

When Soojung arrives at her assigned dorm, she finds three other people already inside the room. A boy is sitting on the floor and a girl is lying down on the bed, they stare at Soojung for a while before the girl jumps off from her bed and runs up to Soojung to grab her hand and shake it.

“Hi! My name is Jinri,” The girl has short hair and pale skin. She is wearing a white blouse and brown skirt. Her eyes are bright and her smile is contagious. She is still shaking Soojung’s hand. “I am so glad I’m not the only girl in this group.”

“Oh,” Soojung says. “Yeah, me too.”

“Jongin is from Apolaki, Jinri is from Cirena and I’m from Kaptan, so you must be from Sinukwan.” The boy sitting in the middle of the bunk beds says. It looks like he is in the middle of folding his clothes. “I’m Ilhoon by the way.”

“Nice to meet you.” Soojung looks around the room in search of her luggage. She was told earlier that they were already brought to her dorm. Ilhoon notices her wandering eyes and chuckles.

“Jinri claimed the bottom bunk so Jongin put your things on the top one.” He nods to the top bunk on the right side of the room. Then he points to the other top bunk. “Jongin is already sleeping.”

“Hey,” Jinri says beside her, her arm already linked with Soojung’s right one. “You still haven’t told us your name.”

“I’m Soojung.” Soojung says quickly. She looks at their arms.

“Oh, I’m sorry.” Jinri says before untangling herself from Soojung. “I have been told before how clingy I am.”

Soojung shakes her head. “It’s okay. I’m just not used to skinship.”

“You should rest,” Ilhoon says gently. “We’ll have a long day tomorrow.”

“But shouldn’t we be writing on that diary thing?” Soojung asks, remembering Changmin’s words to them earlier.

“We can just start on it tomorrow,” Jinri shrugs. She sits on top of her bed and crosses her legs, but then she seems to remember that she is wearing a skirt so she covers her legs with her blanket.

Soojung nods, toeing her shoes off before climbing up her bed. She finds her suitcase and bag on the center of the bed occupying all the space, she asks Ilhoon to help her bring her suitcase down and the boy obediently does it. Her other bag is smaller so she leaves it at the foot of her bed. She finds the diary, a small handheld device, and turns it on. Not wanting to be scolded by the assigned administrator to lead them, she writes on it.

 

* * *

 

 

21-04-2243  23:43

 

Hi, my name is Soojung. I am 18 years old and this is my first night here in this ... place.

I am a participant of the annual Ceremony Of Transition. My sister participated in this two years ago. My mother and I never saw her again after that.

She must have been Transitioned to a different place.

I don’t really know what else to type here. I’m not really used to expressing my thoughts to anyone so this is something new to me.

Oh, I am rooming with three other people here. Surprisingly they allowed us to have mixed genders in one room. In our group we have two girls and two boys.

Jinri seems to be nice. She smiles a lot and she is the first one to approach me. Ilhoon is nice too. But I haven’t spoken to the other boy, Jongin, so I have nothing to say about him yet. I hope we all get along. I wish to learn about the other regions through them.

To be honest I am very curious of what the tests are going to be like. They haven’t told us anything about the process of the Ceremony back at school, so there was no way for us to prepare for it.

It is getting late. I’ll write more tomorrow.

-Soojung


	2. Strike The Match

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soojung meets a new friend

Soojung’s group wakes up early in the morning due to an insistent knock on their dorm’s room. Ilhoon is the one who let the person in, a staff of the Ceremony, who tells them that their leader will be late so they are to go to their scheduled tests on their own. The staff tells them to go to the fourth floor of the Dome and to enter their assigned room.

“There will be a bulletin there.” The staff says. “Just look for your name and you will see which room is yours.”

“It’s too early,” The boy in the next top bunk grumbles. Soojung remembers Ilhoon telling him his name. Jongin.

“Everything here is scheduled.” The staff tells him before leaving.

Jongin murmurs more complaints before climbing down the bed and padding towards the bathroom. They take turns in the shower and when they are all done, they all start to move out of the room. Ilhoon leads the way with Jinri because they are the only ones who paid enough attention to remember the directions. Soojung turns to Jongin, who looks like he’s sleep walking. The boy looks slightly familiar and Soojung racks her brain to figure out where she has seen the boy before.

“Ah, you’re that boy I bumped into yesterday.” Soojung utters. “The rude one.”

Jongin looks at her and then scoffs. “Nice to meet you too.”

“My name is Soojung,”

“Right,” Jongin says. “I’m Jongin.”

And then Jongin walks faster, leaving Soojung walking by herself at the tail of their group. When they arrive at the fourth floor, they all separate to search for their assigned rooms. Soojung finds her name on the bulletin and sees that the room assigned to her is at the end of the hallway. She walks towards it before knocking on the door. A girl dressed in a white uniform opens it for her. She makes Soojung enter the room and instructs her to change her clothes. The girl gives her a sleeveless white shirt and a dark sweat pants, and then she points to a smaller room, telling Soojung to change her clothes there.

Once done, she is taken to see the administrator of the test, who turns out to be a doctor. The doctor is a tall woman with long blonde hair who introduces herself as Jinah. She looks almost as old as Sooyeon. Soojung watches as the doctor attach different colourful wires on her body, all which are connected to the small computer beside her. The computer starts beeping and Soojung sees the pulsing lines on the screen that are in sync with her heartbeat.

“I need you to use the treadmill so we can begin your physical examination.” The doctor says coolly.

She motions towards the treadmill on the other side of the room. Soojung moves to stand over the belt and waits patiently as the doctor start the machine. The treadmill suddenly whirrs into life, the belt starting to move. It starts slow, but moments later it becomes slightly faster, making Soojung go into a slow run. The doctor begins writing down notes as she looks on her computer while her assistant monitors the controls of the treadmill. Soojung runs on the belt for a long time, and she is starting to feel the strain of it in her muscles. Her legs are beginning to feel heavy and her back is already drenched in sweat.

The movement of the belt slows down until it finally stops. Soojung braces herself on the handles of the treadmill, catching her breath. She changes back into her original clothes, leaving the ones given to her on a folded pile on top of one of the chairs. The doctor’s assistant smiles at her gently before giving her a glass of water and Soojung accepts it gratefully, drinking the cool liquid in huge gulps.

The doctor hums to herself and Soojung turns to her, watching quietly as the doctor mulls over the result of the small exercise on the computer.

“You’re a very healthy young woman,” The doctor’s voice is sweet but her gaze is sharp. The bluish light from the computer that is reflected in her eyes is giving her a strange look. “This exam is for us to check your cardiovascular endurance. This is just initial stuff.” She explains before giving Soojung a small paper. “Written there is the time and room number for your written test later, and then after you finish that you are free.”

Soojung tucks the paper inside her back pocket. “You’re not going to tell me the result?” She asks. The doctor dismisses her assistant, who wordlessly exits the room, before turning to Soojung.

“No.” The doctor says. Her tone of voice reminds Soojung of the old women from the charity house, patronizing and mocking. “You’ll find out the result of all your tests after the ceremony.”

“Then how are we supposed to know if we’re doing well in the tests?” Soojung questions.

She places her empty glass on the doctor’s table, all the while sneaking a glance on the computer. Unfortunately, the doctor sees this and quickly turns the monitor off. Soojung bites her lip as the doctor raise an eyebrow at her.

“You don’t need to do well on the test, my dear.” The doctor says airily. “You just have to finish all of it and let us figure out where to place you. We have been doing this for years so we know what we’re doing.”

“But we won’t even get a say on where we want to be placed?” Soojung says, trying to keep her voice polite. “How do we know if you people will make the right choice?”

The doctor stares at her levelly, smile no longer on her face. She grabs Soojung’s right arm before quickly attaching a metal bracelet on her wrists. There is a series of numbers engraved on it and it lights briefly as the doctor locks the bracelet on Soojung’s wrist. The temporary identification bracelet looks very similar to the real one.

Soojung winces as the doctor’s hold on her arm suddenly tightens. She looks up at the older woman with wide eyes and what she sees frightens her a bit. The doctor’s kohl rimmed eyes are piercing and chilling.

“Do not question the System.”

The doctor then sends her out of the room and Soojung quickly walks towards the elevator, while walking she pulls out the paper the doctor gave her and looks at the words written on it. Her next exam is in three hours, a long wait. She reaches the elevator and Soojung sees a map posted right beside the doors. There is a library located on the second floor and Soojung decides to spend her free time there.

She enters the elevator and pushes the button for the second floor before pressing her back against the wall. Soojung rubs her hand against the slightly reddened skin on her wrist. The doctor’s grip on her had been tight. She will make sure to tell their group’s leader about that once they meet.

 

* * *

 

The library houses a couple of shelves of books about different topics. Soojung walks through them and looks for any title that might interest her. She starts humming a random tune, something to ease the uncomfortable silence in the library. She reaches one corner of the library and finds a boy seating down on the floor and holding a small book near his face. Soojung wonders how he can read the letters written on it with the book that close to his eyes.

Soojung clears her throat and it startles the boy. He looks up at Soojung in surprise. The boy has pale skin, long limbs, and a hair so blonde it’s almost white, but if you look closely you will see that the undercut is actually black. He stands up and Soojung notices how tall he is.

“Were you looking for this book?” The boy asks politely. His voice is much deeper than what Soojung expects. He lifts the book up and lets its cover face towards Soojung.

Soojung glances at the book and catches its title. A Practical Guide to Medicinal Herbs, it reads. Soojung is quite familiar to medicinal herbs thanks to her mother’s hobby and Soojung finds them quite interesting but she’s not in the mood to read about them right now.

“No,” Soojung murmurs and shakes her head. “I was just browsing through the collection of books here. We don’t really have that much books in Sinukwan so it’s quite fascinating to see so many of it.”

“Well,” The boy’s voice suddenly becomes disdainful. “Back in Kaptan we have more books than food. Unfortunately we still haven’t found out ways on how to eat them.”

Soojung raises an eyebrow. “Sinukwan always provides enough food for everyone.  We make sure of it.”

The boy shakes his head and there’s a small bitter smile on his face. “They don’t reach everyone.” He mutters.

“What do you mean?” Soojung asks slowly. “What do you mean they don’t reach everyone?”

“Let’s not talk about that here,” The boy says in a low voice. He glances around the room and eyes the librarian sitting behind the counter. “I’m sure we’ll have more time to talk about that later on but right now,” He carefully places the book back to the shelf. “I have an exam so I must go.”

“But-” Soojung starts but the boy cuts him off.

“Don’t worry we’ll see each other again soon.” The boy states. He looks so convincing but Soojung cannot figure out why.

He starts walking away, leaving Soojung in between the book shelves. She quickly follows him and clutches the back of his shirt with her hand, stopping him.

“Who are you?” Soojung breathes out.

The boy turns to look at him, a gentle expression on his face.

“I’m Sehun.”

 

* * *

 

Soojung meets Sehun again on the next day. She finds him hunched over another book and Sooojung quietly sits in front of him, waiting for the boy to notice her presence. When Sehun finally looks up from his book, a startled ‘oh’ comes out of his mouth. Soojung grins at him before asking what book he is reading this time.

Like the first time they met, the boy is reading another book about medicinal plants. Soojung tells him about her mother’s hobby of planting them. Sehun stares at her with eyes full of wonder before bombarding her with questions regarding the plants. Questions which Soojung is glad to answer.

“What about this?” Sehun asks while pointing to another sketch in the book.

They are sitting side by side in between two shelves in the library, the book about medicinal herbs perched on top of Sehun’s lap. Soojung looks at the page where Sehun is pointing and sees a small sketch of a type of herb with broad leaves and bell shaped flowers.

“Does your mother have these?” Sehun asks again.

Soojung shakes her head. “No, I don’t think she does.” She looks closer at the book to make sure. “I haven’t seen anything like that in her garden before.”

“Oh,” Sehun exhales. “This one is good though. It says here that it can heal burns.”

“There are ready made ointments for that.” Soojung says.

“Yes but not everyone has enough money to buy them.” Sehun counters.

Soojung thinks about the many poor children back in Sinukwan. She sighs and realizes that Sehun is right. Soojung looks at the boy beside her, wondering what makes him so interested in this subject.

“Did you want to b transitioned to Cirena?” Soojung asks.

Sehun turns to look at her, confusion evident on his face. “What?”

“You’re very interested in medicine,” Soojung reasons. “Do you want to become a doctor?”

“No,” Sehun snorts. “I have other reasons.”

“Tell me.” Soojung sits up straight, focusing on the boy.

“Uhh, I don’t know...” Sehun says while scratching the back of his head.

Soojung slaps Sehun’s knee, making the boy flinch. “Tell me.”

“Alright! Alright! Jeez,” Sehun wails. He massages his knee before taking deep breath and looking straight at Soojung. “Both my parents died from some kind of disease when I was younger. I just thought that maybe if I know enough about medicinal herbs and can find out a way to get them and plant them in Kaptan then maybe I may be able to prevent that from happening to another kid.”

“But Kaptan’s soil isn’t compatible in planting-” Soojung starts before Sehun cuts her off.

“We’ll cross the bridge when we get there.” Sehun says smugly.

“What?” Soojung deadpans, not understanding what Sehun meant with his words.

“It was something I read from a very old book.” Sehun chuckles. “I thought it sounded cool.”

“You’re so dumb.” Soojung tells Sehun but there is no real bite in her words.

They start laughing and Soojung thinks it’s amazing how despite not knowing Sehun for longer than two days, she still feels a sense of comfort by being near him. It’s like the boy filled up the space that Sooyeon left when she went away.

“I wish I had a sister like you.” Sehun says.

Soojung laughs and Sehun turns to her with a bright smile. “I think you just read my thoughts.”

“Really?” Sehun asks.

“Yeah,” Soojung answers. Then she remembers the conversation the two of them had when they first met. The boy told her that the foods from Sinukwan aren’t reaching everyone. She needs to ask what Sehun meant when he said that.

“Sehun, I need to ask you something.”

The boy smiles again, but this time the action looks like it meant something else. Soojung knows that he undertands where their conversation is going.

“I thought you forgot.” Sehun grumbles.

“You said you’d explain it to me.” Soojung says quietly. “What did you mean when you said that the food provided by my region isn’t reaching everyone?”

Sehun turns his head, looking away from Soojung. “It’s not yet time.”

“But you said-”

Sehun stands up abruptly, not caring about the book that had fallen from his lap to the ground. He swipes a hand through his hair and heaves a deep sigh.

“It’s not yet time.” He repeats before walking away and leaving Soojung behind.

 

* * *

 

Soojung smothers a yawn as she looks at the man standing in front of her. He introduced himself as the administrator that will serve as their group leader. The man has a very fair skin and soft features. He has wide innocent eyes and Soojung can’t help but think that the man is too young to be an administrator. Soojung wants no more than to fall asleep and forget about what happened with Sehun earlier but this man says that he came with something important so she has no choice but to stay up, at least until the man leaves.

“I’m sorry for coming in so late.” The man says. “I was supposed to come in yesterday but something happened and I got caught up.”

Jinri is sitting on top of her bed with Soojung on her left side. Her head is resting on top of Soojung's shoulder. The two of them were just about to go to sleep when the man knocked at their dorm room. Soojung looks over the other beds in the room, all of which are empty. She realizes that both of the boys in their group haven’t come back yet.

“I promise I’ll be quick.” The man pulls one chair in front of where Soojung and Jinri are sitting.  He sits on the chair and places both of his hands on top of his lap. “My name is Junmyeon.”

“Hello Junmyeon.” Jinri says softly.

Junmyeon smiles at her before continuing. “I’m here to explain some stuff. I am sure you’re already familiar with how the Ceremony works.”

Jinri and Soojung nods at this. They’ve already been through three days of multiple tests for the Ceremony. It was fairly easy to keep up since once one of the tests finishes the administrator for it will give them a piece of paper saying the time and date of their next test. One thing Soojung is still not accustomed with is the metal bracelet around her wrist. She looks at it and frowns.

“Ah right,” Jumyeon says, catching Soojung frowning at her bracelet. He points at it. “Those things are here so we can keep track of where all of you are going and what you are doing.”

Soojung scowls. “I don’t think I like the sound of that.”

Jinri giggles while Junmyeon smiles nervously at Soojung. “It’s so that we’ll know if everyone is following the schedule. So that we can help you all easily in case you have problems.”

“They’re just doing their job Soojung.” Jinri mumbles.

“Also, I need to remind you that the participants of the Ceremony have a curfew, which is at exactly 10 p.m” Junmyeon says seriously. “Sadly, it looks like the other half of this group didn’t know that.”

“Maybe they got lost.” Jinri reasons out.

“Maybe. I should go look for them.” Junmyeon sighs before standing up. “Good night girls. It was nice finally meeting you.”

Junmyeon leaves the dorm and right after that Jinri flops down on her bed, cocooning herself inside her blankets.

“Close the light Soojung.” She grumbles, the sound muffled by the blanket.

Soojung hums, standing up and flicking the switch of the light. Darkness envelops the room and Soojung needs to wait for her eyes to adjust before walking towards her bunk bed. She reaches the ladder and climbs it slowly, carefully so she will not fall. When she reaches the top, she quickly moves under her blanket and rests her back on the soft mattress, sighing contentedly at the feeling of comfort.

She lets the sounds of the crickets outside the window lull her to sleep. Soojung’s eyes closes and slowly she drifts off to dreamland.

Not long after, the door to their dorm room opens and two boys enters. One of them quickly goes to his bed while the other does it more slowly. The first boy falls asleep a few seconds after he drops to his bed. The second one climbs over his and sits down on top of the mattress. He looks over to the other bed opposite him and stares at the girl sleeping on it. He stays like this for a few minutes before deciding to lie down on his side, still facing the sleeping form of the girl. His eyelids feel heavy so he closes them.

Jongin only sleeps when he hears Soojung’s soft snores.

 

* * *

 

23-04-2243 22:38

 

This is Jongin, a participant of the Ceremony of Transition. I am a native from the region of Apolaki. Most of us are trained to be fighters even though not all of us will come back to our region.

Anyway, target is sighted.

Mission begins at full moon.

-Jongin


	3. Grid Lines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red means Yes and Green means No.

The third day of the Ceremony brings in another set of examinations for the participants. Soojung stands outside the room with her group mates and Junmyeon. There are other groups of participants in the area and they are all waiting for the room to be opened for them. Junmyeon greets the other administrators with polite good mornings and hellos, his enthusiasm this early in the morning makes Soojung feel like throwing up. Beside Soojung, Ilhoon is a wreck of nerves. The boy has one hand inside his pocket while the other is nervously playing with the collar of his shirt. Soojung somehow understands how he feels. She never liked the policy of the ceremony about not letting the participants know the results of their exams until the last day.

Soojung hears a low grumble and she looks over to find Jongin sitting on the floor, half awake and grumpy. It took all four of them a long time to drag him off his bed.

A warm body suddenly leans towards Soojung’s left side and a chin presses on top of her shoulder. After spending two days with her group, Soojung learned that the girl from Cirena is extremely clingy. She hears Jinri sigh.

“They say the exam will be different this time.” Jinri says.

“Different? How?” Soojung raises an eyebrow.

Junmyeon turns to them and takes it upon himself to answer the question. “Last time the examination was written,” He starts.

Ilhoon stops tugging his collar, and even Jongin pays him attention. “This time you guys will be using a different method. I can’t really say much, but let’s just say that Kaptan provided us another innovative way in performing the Ceremony.”

“Oh no.” Ilhoon gasps. He lifts up both his hands to clutch handfuls of his hair. “This is not good. This is really not good.”

“What’s wrong?” Jinri asks, frowning. “You look so pale.”

“You don’t understand!” Ilhoon hisses. The boy looks close to having a panic attack. Soojung turns to Junmyeon to ask for help but the young administrator is laughing at them.

“Then explain it to us.” Jongin grumbles before yawning loudly.

Ilhoon releases his grip on his hair and smoothes the strands down before he takes a deep breath. “If I’m correct, then this means the scientists from Kaptans finally finished their project. They created a device that would make examinations paper free.”

“Okay,” Soojung says slowly. “That sounds like a normal examination performed on a computer. Why are you so scared of it?”

“That’s not it.” Ilhoon chokes out, it looks like all the blood has drained from the young man’s face.

Before Ilhoon can explain further, the door to the examination room opens and a tall man comes out. Junmyeon chuckles before clapping Ilhoon on the back.

“That’s enough chit-chat.” Junmyeon says. “The administrator for this examination is called Kyuhyun. Follow his instructions and you’ll be fine.”

Several people wearing white uniforms, the same one doctor Jinah’s assistant was wearing, start ushering the participants inside the room. There are about 50 chairs in the room, Jinri starts marching towards the ones nearest to the front of the room so Soojung, Ilhoon and Jongin follow her. Soojung notices that there is only one computer in the room and it seems like the administrator, Kyuhyun, is the only one who has access to it.

“Well this is exciting.” Jinri chirps. She looks comfortable as she sits on the chair, playing with the wires connected to its handles. Ilhoon suddenly grabs her hands and gently coaxes the wires from her fingers.

“Trust me when I say you wouldn’t want to play with those.” Ilhoon says before carefully sitting down on the chair next to Jinri.

Soojung sweeps her eyes across the room and catches Sehun frowning as he sits on his chair. She looks at the other participants in the room and notices that most of those from Kaptan don’t look comfortable.

“Ilhoon,” Soojung says. “Is there something wrong with that device?”

“I don’t know.” Ilhoon sighs. “But I heard that one of people who volunteered to test the device was hospitalized for a month.”

“What?” Jongin hisses. “Are you saying this examination is dangerous?”

“I- I don’t know!” Ilhoon says. “I mean that accident happened last year and then after that no one really knew what happened with the project. Most of us thought it was dropped.”

Jongin stares at Ilhoon with an expression that is downright frightening. Ilhoon’s eyes widen as he tries to make himself as small as possible, afraid of what Jongin might do. Soojung places a hand on Jongin’s chest, pushing him away from Ilhoon.

“Calm down.” Soojung says.

Jongin turns his glare to her, and Soojung fights down the urge to retract her hand from the boy’s chest because of it. Jongin then wordlessly walks away and leaves the three of them rooted to their spots. Ilhoon exhales loudly, and Jinri, who had been quiet the whole time, fans herself.

“When I said exciting, I didn’t mean like that.” Jinri murmurs.

“I honestly thought he was going to punch me.” Ilhoon swipes a hand through his hair. “People from Apolaki are really scary.”

“He has the right to be angry about how dangerous this test might be.” Soojung sits down and faces the front of the room where Kyuhyun is discussing something with three of his assistants. “But he was wrong about directing his anger at you.”

“Well,” Ilhoon sighs. “I just hope the scholars from home made sure that no one will be hospitalized again because of the device.”

 

* * *

 

All of Kyuhyun’s assistants wear eerie smiles on their faces. Soojung supposes the smiles are supposed to make them feel secure, but she really wants to tell them that it’s doing quite the opposite. They inject the participants with a serum without explaining what it is for and then gives them a black tinted eye visor. Soojung inspects it curiously.

“Please wear it.” The assistant assigned to Soojung is a young woman with long brown hair tied up in a ponytail. She attaches wires to Soojung’s temples before looking at the watch on her wrist. “The serum’s effect will take five minutes to work. Please wait patiently.”

The assistant takes one of Soojung’s arms and places it on the armrest of the chair before strapping it on place. This surprises Soojung and she tries to free her hand but the assistant stops her.

“What are you doing?” Soojung asks frantically. Around her, the other participants are also startled by what the assistants are doing.

“Certain procedures need to be performed in order for the examination to be successful.” The woman says. She grabs Soojung’s other arm and straps it too on the chair, before grabbing the visor from Soojung’s hand and placing it on Soojung’s face.

The lenses of the visor are heavily tinted, prohibiting Soojung from seeing anything. She wants to take it off but her hands are strapped securely on the chair. She hears Jinri and Ilhoon frantically talking to the assistants beside her.

“I can’t see!” Ilhoon complains.

“There is less than one minute before the examination begins.” One of the assistants, a male, says calmly.

“How the hell are we going to do tests with our arms tied to a freaking chair?” Jinri screams loudly, making Soojung wince.

Soojung blindly turns her face towards where she thinks the assistant assigned to her is standing. “Can you at least tell me what’s going to happen to us?”  
The assistant is quiet for a moment, but then Soojung feels the assistant touch the inside of her arm and then she senses a quick sting on her skin. Soojung almost misses the words that the woman whispers to her ear.

“Good luck.”

Soojung blinks and then white grid lines appear before her. She looks around herself but there is nothing but darkness and the white lines. She tries to open her mouth to talk, ask the assistant what is happening, but no voice comes out of her. There is a buzzing sound in the air that seems to be caused by the grid lines.

Soojung cannot hear Jinri and Ilhoon’s voices anymore, in fact, she can’t seem to hear anything else aside from the buzzing sound and her own breath. She can feel her heart beating wildly inside her chest as she wait for what is about to happen next.  
Suddenly, there is a loud beeping sound and then a static voice of a male fills Soojung’s ears. A voice she recognizes to be as Kyuhyun’s.

 _“Good day participants. Welcome to the part two of your Aptitude Examination. Each of your consciousness is now inside a virtual plane through the device that was created by the wonderful people of Kaptan. You will not be able to control your bodies in this state, but your mind is definitely at its most powerful condition here._ ”

Two paths suddenly appear in front of Soojung, one has green pavements and the other has red. The paths lead to separate ways, they are both long and Soojung cannot see where it ends, it just seems to go on and on.

_“You will be presented different sets of questions and these paths will serve as your choices. For example, if the question is about whether or not you want to stay in your region, the words ‘yes’ will hover over the red path, and the word ‘no’ will appear on the green path.”_

As Kyuhyun says the instructions, the words ‘yes’ and ‘no’ appear on the paths, bold white letters hovering over thin air. Soojung cringes as she watches them float, thinking about how much the test is slowly turning into a creepy dream.

_“You will pick between these two paths for your answer. All you need to do is to look at the path you want and then ... choose it.”_

_“Oh, we have a monitor over here and I can see most of you are confused about that but you don’t really have to worry too much about it. Just trust the device. It will know when you have chosen.”_

_“Why don’t you try it? The choices are in front of you. Would you like to go back to your native region? Or do you want to be Transitioned to a different one?”_

A heavy feeling settles inside Soojung as the question goes through her thoughts. The green path is bright and it reminds Soojung of Sinukwan’s fields and of her mother’s favourite dress. But the color also reminds her of envy. Of the countless Name Days she spends inside their home’s dining room by herself. Of the lone candle burning bright in the dark room as she eats the pastries given to her by the old man from the bakery. The only person left who still remembers her Name day because her father used to buy cake from him every year.

Soojung closes her eyes as she remembers all of that. She takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. She opens her eyes, turns her head towards the red path, and watches it glimmer invitingly.

She makes her first choice.

 

* * *

 

Soojung wakes up to a dark room that she doesn’t recognize. The bed she is lying on is small and uncomfortable. Her mouth is dry and her body is weirdly tired. And to top it all, she feels her head hurting so bad, she feels like it will explode. Soojung groans.

“Oh, good. You’re finally awake.” Soojung looks over to where the voice came from and finds a tired looking Jongin sitting beside her bed. “You missed dinner.”

“What happened?” Soojung asks.

Jongin stands up and walks towards Soojung, helping her sit up. “A lot of kids fainted after the exam. You were one of them.”

He picks up a pitcher from the bedside table and pours water on a glass before handing it to Soojung. “The moment we stepped inside our dorm, your nose started bleeding and then you lost consciousness. Junmyeon and I brought you here. He had to go back to check on the others so I stayed.”

Soojung drinks a small sip of water, and then she places it back on top of the bedside table. Her head is still hurting so she lies back down. Jongin sits on the small space beside her and watches her carefully. There is great sadness in his eyes, as if he has failed to do something.

“If I knew something like this would happen I would have stopped them.” Jongin says.

“What are you talking about?” Soojung frowns.

“It was my-” Jongin cuts himself off. He wipes a hand over his face and releases a loud sigh. He looks at Soojung, the sadness in his eyes is gone and is now replaced with the look of sheer determination.

“Jongin?” Soojung murmurs.

Jongin turns his head and faces the window. The sky is starless and the moon is the shape of a perfect circle. The light of the moon hits Jongin’s face, making it look like as if he is glowing. Jongin closes his eyes and his mouth opens to whisper inaudible words.

Suddenly, there is a loud commotion coming from outside the door. Jongin stiffens for a second before scanning his eyes all over the room. He stands up from the bed and opens the largest cabinet in the room. He pulls out all of its contents and stuffs them under Soojung’s bed. He then turns to Soojung and takes her hand, quickly but at the same time carefully helping her get up from the bed. Soojung’s body is still too weak to protest so Jongin doesn’t have any problems moving the girl around. Jongin wordlessly guides Soojung towards the cabinet and gently pushes her inside, making her sit on the corner. He pulls the blanket from the bed and then he squats in front of Soojung.

“Wait for me here.” Jongin says as he wraps the blanket around her. “Do not come out from here unless I tell you to, alright?”

“What is going on?” Soojung asks. “Why-”

Soojung freezes at the sound of a gunshot and her body starts to shake in fear. Someone from outside the room screams, loud and hysterical. Soojung suddenly finds it hard to breathe. Jongin gently holds her face, stroking his thumb on her cheek. One of her hand moves up to wrap long fingers around Jongin’s arm, trapping him in a tight grip.

“Calm down Soojung. Breathe.” Jongin orders. He looks directly towards Soojung’s eyes. “You’re going to be fine. I promise.”  
Jongin carefully pries Soojung’s hand from his arm. He stands up and closes the closet’s doors, leaving Soojung in the dark cramped space.

Soojung hears the doors of the room open and close. She hopes Jongin went out to get help. There are more sounds of gunshots now. But those are faint and seem to be coming far from the room she is in. Soojung has only read about terrorists once. The only time an uprising happened was more than twenty years ago. It was a failure and Hannan never fails to remind everyone about that. The soldiers from Apolaki are all loyal to Hannan. A rebellion would be impossible, so why bother attempting it again? And why now?

Soojung lifts both of her hands in front of her face and squints her eyes to see how much they are trembling. They are shaking so bad so Soojung tucks them in between her knees. Soojung starts worrying about Jongin, wondering what’s taking him so long. The dorm isn’t that far from the healing rooms. Soojung wonders if Jongin has forgotten about her amidst the panic. She hopes not.

The door to the room opens with a loud bang and Soojung covers her mouth with both hands to stop herself from screaming. Her heart is thundering inside her chest. She counts every second with small breaths, wrapping the blanket tightly around her as if the flimsy material would be enough to protect her. The closet door opens and Soojung closes her eyes. When she opens them again, she is relieved to find Jongin.

“Jongin!” Soojung exclaims. “What’s happening outside? I heard gunshots!”

“Right.” Jongin sighs. He pulls Soojung so she can stand.

“Explanations will be given later Soojung.” Soojung turns towards the door and finds Junmyeon, his hair is messy and there is a small gash on his cheek. “For now, we need you to be quiet.”

Soojung blinks at him. Jongin tugs on her arm. “Come on. We need to get to the elevator and meet the pale kid.”

“What?” Soojung says. “What about Jinri and Ilhoon?”

“They’re safe.” Junmyeon answers. They start walking and the halls are surprisingly deserted but Soojung finds a number of bullet holes on the walls.

“What happened to everyone here?” Soojung asks. “I heard screaming earlier and-”

“Soojung be quiet.” Jongin says and Soojung glares at him

“Where are you taking me?” Soojung directs the question to Junmyeon who is walking ahead of them.

“Some place safe.” Junmyeon says.

They reach one corner and Junmyeon raises his right hand, Jongin places a hand on top of Soojung’s shouder to stop her from walking. Jongin presses his side against the wall while pulling Soojung behind him. Junmyeon turns the corner and leaves them.

“What is he doing?” Soojung asks quietly.

“You ask too many questions.” Jongin grumbles. “Weren’t you supposed to be sick?”

“My headache is gone.” Soojung says. “Answer my question. What is Junmyeon doing?”

“He’s making sure no one is around to see us.” Jongin sighs.

“Are you...” Soojung gasps. “Are you kidnapping me?”

Jongin rolls his eyes. “Soojung please.”

“It’s clear! Let’s go!” Junmyeon calls.

Jongin detaches himself from the wall and starts walking before Soojung can ask any more questions. Soojung follows the two men hesitantly, afraid of what they might do to her if ever she tries to run away. They reach the elevator and the three of the steps inside. Soojung stands on one side, watching Jongin and Junmyeon alternately. Junmyeon turns to her and chuckles, seemingly amused.

“Are you two terrorists?” Soojung asks.

“What kind of question is that?” Jongin snorts. Junmyeon’s smile only widens.

“There were gunshots and screaming! Junmyeon has a wound on his cheek so I assume he fought with someone before he came to the room I was in, and he has a gun!” Soojung points to the gun tucked behind Junmyeon. The elevator dings as they reach the ground floor but Soojung doesn’t hear it, nor does she notice it opening. “And have I mentioned the fact that the two of you are kidnapping me even though I am no one important?”

“Three.” A voice says. “The three of us are kidnapping you.”

Outside the elevator stands a boy with pale skin, long limbs, and a hair so blonde it almost looks white. Soojung would be able to recognize him anywhere ever since the first day she saw him sitting in between the shelves of books inside the dimly lit room of the library. The boy smiles at her and Soojung opens her mouth to whisper his name.

“Sehun.”

 

* * *

  
WARNING...

ATTACK DETECTED...

SYSTEM BREACHED...

EMERGENCY SIRENS STARTED...

LOCKDOWN INITIATED...


	4. The Past Is Catching Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soojung finds one answer.

Soojung's mind turns into blank as she looks at the young man in front of her. There is sweat running down Sehun's face, a bruise forming under his eyes, and he is holding a sleek black gun in his right hand.

"Hello Soojung." Sehun says in a soft voice.

"Why..." Soojung balks, finding it hard to summon her words.

"Did it work?" Junmyeon suddenly says, taking Sehun's attention away from her.

"Yeah." Sehun turns to Junmyeon. "I managed to distract them so they're all on the other side of the building. I also shut down all the security cameras so they wouldn’t find us so easily."

"Let's go." Jongin says. He places a hand on Soojung's back, gently pushing her outside of the elevator. "We have no time to waste. They've sound the alarm so we're not safe yet."

"Jongin's right." Junmyeon agrees.

Junmyeon starts walking ahead, the other three following him closely behind. Soojung looks around the place. The halls are all quiet, not a single person around. Bullet holes decorate the walls, some of the windows are broken, and most of the rooms they pass look thrashed. She fears whatever it is that happened here.

"Why are you all doing this?" Soojung's voice breaks at the last word. On her side, Jongin releases a deep sigh.

"Soon you will understand." Sehun tells her. "Or at least I hope you will."

"She will." Jongin looks directly at Soojung as he speaks, as if daring her to refuse. "She must."

Sehun slows his footsteps until he is walking just beside Soojung. He wipes a thumb on the corner of Soojung's eye, noticing a small tear. Soojung flinches from his touch.

“Please don't be afraid." Sehun whispers. "Nothing bad will happen to you. I promise."

Soojung says nothing, eyes looking forward, and arms wrapped tightly around herself. The corners of Sehun's lips curve down into a frown and he starts to walk away from Soojung with a defeated slouch on his posture.

The four of them are all silent for the rest of the walk until Junmyeon checks one hallway, mutter's a quiet "shit", and ushers all of them back. But it was too late.

Junmyeon?" Doctor Jinah appears in front of them, blonde hair flowing like silky waves across her shoulders. She eyes the three younger people behind Junmyeon before turning to the older man with a scrutinizing look. One of her hand lifts up to reveal a gun.

"The administrators were all instructed to bring the participants into the main hall. What are you doing all the way here?"

"I found them in the healing rooms. I was just about to lead them to the hall." Junmyeon lies easily. He aims a disarming smile at the younger woman. "What about you Jinah? Why are you here pointing a gun at me?"

The younger woman smirks and her head tilts to the side. "Just a precaution. I have been told there was a spy."

"A spy?" The confusion in Junmyeon's voice seems believable even in Soojung's ears.

"Yes." Jinah smiles widely, and then lifts the gun higher so it is pointing directly at Junmyeon's face. "A traitor has been found."

Two shots are suddenly fired, and a body falls down on the floor. Soojung lets out a shrilly scream as she watches the young female administrator press a bloody hand to her wounded leg. Doctor Jinah looks up at Sehun, her beautiful face now twisted by anger.

"You will pay for this!" Jinah shouts.

She tries to grab the gun that fell out of her hand when she fell, but Jongin quickly kicks it to the side. She releases another set of loud curses before pulling out a small device from the pocket of her coat and pressing a button on it.

Junmyeon gasps. "We have to run!"

Jongin grabs Soojung’s hand before sprinting after Jumyeon and Sehun. They run towards a door that isn’t familiar to Soojung. Junmyeon presses his hand against the device installed on the wall beside the door, it scans his palm briefly, and then the lock of the door clicks. Junmyeon turns the knob before pushing the door open and revealing an empty lot.

It is hard to see under the starless night sky, and Soojung struggles to look around the lot, wondering where the older man is planning to take them next. Suddenly, they hear heavy footsteps not far behind them. Sehun puts his hand inside one of his pockets before pulling something out and presenting it to Junmyeon who grins at the sight of the small key on the younger man’s open palm.

“When did you get that?” Jongin inquires. Soojung tries to yank her hand out of Jongin’s grasp but the boy only tightens his hold.

“Your brother gave it to me at the start of the Ceremony.” Sehun responds.

Soojung opens her mouth to ask who they are talking about when the footsteps behind them become louder making the three men turn back towards the inside of the building. Soojung looks at Junmyeon, examining the calculating look on his face.

They have admitted to her that they are rebels. They sabotaged the Ceremony and fired a gun at one of the administrators. Now, they are kidnapping her for some unknown reason. Their actions don’t make sense to Soojung.

Soojung’s heartbeat thunders against her chest as she thinks about what she is about to do. Her hands curl into a fist, and she opens her mouth to suck in a deep breath. She closes her eyes and screams.

“They’re here!”

Jongin quickly covers her mouth with his hand, while Sehun and Junmyeon stare at her with wide and surprised eyes.

“You are so stupid!” Jongin fumes.

Junmyeon shakes his head, as if to erase the shock in his system. “Jongin take Soojung.”

Jongin keeps his hand on Soojung’s mouth while his other hand holds one of her arm. Soojung struggles in his hold, but as expected, the boy is strong.  Junmyeon closes the door behind them, he opens small box down on the wall and then cuts off all the electrical wires inside it using a small knife.

They start walking again, quick steps towards one side of the lot. Soojung notices a black car parked there and realizes that the lot isn’t empty like she first thought. Junmyeon brings out the small key Sehun gave to him earlier, and uses it to open the car’s doors. Jongin opens the door to the backseat and pushes Soojung in, before climbing in after to sit beside her. Sehun sits on her other side, the look on his face noticeably disappointed.

Junmyeon starts the engine and the car roars into life. He steps on the gas, making the car dash out of the lot just in time as the administrator Yongwoon and a handful of security personnel manage to open the door of the building. They stand in the middle of the empty lot, watching the black car race farther away from the Dome.

 

* * *

 

The air inside the car is thick with negative emotions. No one is talking and Soojung knows that the two boys beside her are both struggling to stop themselves from shouting at her. Soojung crosses her arms in front of her chest and sticks her chin out, refusing to be treated like a person who did wrong. Junmyeon sighs at them.

 “Stop acting like little children.” He chastises.

“We almost got caught because of her!” Jongin blurts out, ears red with rage. Soojung snorts at him while Junmyeon winces at the volume of his voice.

“I cannot believe she did that.” Sehun lamented. He has his forehead pressed against the car’s window and his breath fogs the glass as he speaks.

Soojung frowns. “You are kidnapping me.” She says slowly. Each word uttered with obvious disdain.

Sehun rolls his eyes while Jongin covers his own face with both of his hands, gulping in a number of deep breaths to calm himself. He stills for a second before releasing a muffled scream, surprising the other passengers in the car.

“What the fuck Jongin?!” Sehun’s eyes are wide, one of his hand pressing on top of his chest where his heart is.

“Sorry.” Jongin exhales. He folds his hands on top of his lap and stares straight ahead. “I’m okay now.”

“I haven’t done anything wrong.” Soojung says. “It was the three of you who interrupted the Ceremony and kidnapped me. This, I repeat, is something that I still don’t understand.”

“If you truly are rebels,” She continues. “Then shouldn’t you be kidnaping someone more important?”

Sehun turns to her, as if to answer her question, but Junmyeon throws a side glance at him from the rear-view mirror, making the younger man close his mouth abruptly. Soojung makes a frustrated noise.

“When are you going to answer my questions?” Soojung exclaims.

“Soon Soojung.” Junmyeon answers, voice clipped.

“Soon? Is that the only answer the three of you can give?” Soojung says.

“I understand that you’re confused and scared,” Junmyeon sympathizes. “But please Soojung, just wait.”

Soojung’s lip quivers and her eye blur because of the upcoming tears, she quickly wipes her eyes using the back of her hand. Jongin turns to her, a glint of sadness in his eyes, his hand itches to wipe the tears in her eyes but he fears Soojung will also recoil from his touch, so instead he focuses his vision on the road ahead and watches as they near the walls.

Junmyeon doesn’t drive towards the opening of the gates but towards the left most part of it which is nearest to Hannan’s transmission tower. He parks the car on a dark spot and he scans his eyes around the area, searching for something. Soojung sniffs, and then wipes the remaining tears pooling in her eyes before doing the same. She watches the beacon on top of the wall, the shadows dancing on the ground as the light hits the different structures in the place.

Sehun suddenly shifts on his seat and points a finger outside. “Is that him?”

Soojung curiously looks at where he is pointing at, looking for signs of anything worth finding. “What should I be looking for?” She asks.

“My stupid brother.” Jongin mutters before opening the car door. “I’ll bring him here.”

Jongin climbs out of the car and walks towards the side of the tower. He disappears from their sight once he reaches it, Soojung squints her eyes trying very hard to look for the boy.

“Where did he go?” She asks no one in particular.

“He’ll be back soon.” Sehun assures her. He looks at Soojung, a grin slowly forming on his mouth. “Are you worried about Jongin?”

“What?” Soojung scoffs. “Are you crazy?”

The car door unexpectedly opens, startling Soojung and Sehun. Jongin appears beside them, a confused look on his face. “What?”

“Nothing.” Soojung says quickly. She elbows Sehun when the boy starts giggling. “It was nothing.”

“Now that that’s sorted, can we go back to some serious stuff?” A voice says.

Soojung finds that the once empty passenger seat beside Junmyeon is now occupied. The man fishes out three metal bracelets from the inside of his coat, waves them for a bit before smiling at Soojung.

“Changmin.” Soojung breathes out.

The older man chuckles at Soojung, much like how he did on the first day of the Ceremony where Soojung first saw him. “Hello Soojung.”

“You’re Jongin’s brother?” Soojung asks to which Changmin nods the same time Jongin mutters ‘unfortunately’. Soojung’s jaw drops. “You’re a rebel too?”

“You can say that.” Changmin answers. “But unlike Junmyeon, I haven’t revealed myself to the government yet.”

“Jinah was a miscalculation in my plan.” Jumyeon frowns.

“Yeah.” Changmin agrees. “She was a pain in the ass. Started screaming about revenge when we found her.” He turns to Sehun with a pointed look. “Watch your back kid.”

Sehun gulps. “She was going to shoot Junmyeon. I had to do something.”

“Ah right, I still haven’t thanked you for that.” Junmyeon smiles at the younger man. “Thank you for saving my life Sehun.”

“Anyway,” Changmin says. “We need to get rid of your old bracelets and change them into these.” He hands out the new metal bracelets one by one. Changmin teaches them how to unlatch the older one from their wrists and how to wear the new one.

Soojung examines hers closely before looking back at Changmin. “Why would we need new ones?” She asks.

“So that you will be able to pass through the walls of course.” Changmin answers. “The older ones have a tracking device too, so wearing them while going to the base will be bad.”

Soojung bites her lip, and tries to sneakily put her older bracelet inside her pocket. Jongin catches her, he grabs the bracelet out of her hold and throws it out of the car.

“Don’t even think about it.” Jongin says.

“I’m only doing what is right.” Soojung grumbles. “I’m pretty sure kidnapping is equal to being sentenced to imprisonment in a penitentiary in Apolaki. You should know that!”

“There are no penitentiaries in Apolaki.” Jongin says slowly.

“What?” Soojung searches his face for any signs of joking. “But they said-”

“He’s right, Soojung.” Sehun confirms.

“Major offenses are automatically sentenced to Deliverance.” Changmin states. “Do you know what that means?”

Soojung haven’t heard of the word before so she shakes her head. Changmin sighs as if the act of explaining it to Soojung gives him pain.

“Deliverance means that the person will be sentenced to death.” Changmin’s voice is weary. “The System doesn’t give second chances to major offenses. They will all be sent to Hannan where an injection is waiting for them.”

“But,” Soojung says, remembering the time someone from Sinukwan was taken by Apolaki police for imprisonment. The man was caught for not paying enough tax by the council who told the public that he will be taken to a penitentiary in Apolaki. His family cried so much that day, but the council assured them that he will be back once his debts are paid. _But if there are no penitentiaries, then what happened to the man?_ Soojung shivers at the thought.

“They’re all killed?” Soojung asks grimly.

“Yes.” Changmin responds.

“In Sinukwan, people who refuse to work or attempt to leave are automatically sent to penitentiaries too.” Soojung thinks about her father. _Was he given the same fate?_

Soojung’s breaths start to come out in rapid successions. Her heart beats loud and quick, and it is starting to scare her. She suddenly finds it hard to breathe.

“Are you alright?” Junmyeon asks. “Soojung?”

“I can’t breathe.” Soojung chokes, hand wrapping itself around her neck, the other clutching at her chest.

“Open the windows.” Changmin orders. “Keep her calm.”

Sehun reaches for one of her hands and keeps it in between his. “You’re going to be okay Soojung.”

“Hey,” Jongin gently taps her cheek to get her to look at him. “Try breathing in through your nose and out through your mouth.”

“I can’t.” Soojung says. Her eyes are starting to water with fresh tears.

“Yes, you can.” Jongin retorts. “Just copy me.”

Jongin closes his mouth and inhales air through his nose. He keeps them in for a second before releasing the air through his mouth. He nods to Soojung, encouraging the girl to do the same. Soojung gulps in a small amount of air before exhaling quickly, she repeats the action again and again until she starts to feel calmness settle into her. Soojung makes an airy chuckle when she finds it easier to breathe again.

“There,” Jongin smiles. “Didn’t I tell you that you can do it?”

Soojung smiles back at him, thankful.

“You got us a little bit worried for a moment there Soojung.” Junmyeon says.

Sehun’s fingers are shaking as he laces them with Soojung’s own clammy ones. “Are you okay now?”

“Yeah,” Soojung breathes out. She closes her eyes and mumbles softly. “I was just thinking about someone I know.”

Changmin nods. “And you think he’s been Delivered?”

There’s a certain look in Changmin’s face that Soojung cannot explain. She nods at him, wordlessly affirming the older man’s question. Changmin then turns around, facing the front of the car again. Junmyeon looks at him as if waiting for an order. Changmin suddenly opens the car’s door and climbs out of the vehicle. He steps by the side, still holding the door. Soojung bites the bottom of her lip, wondering what the older man is planning to do.

“Get out of here,” Changmin says, he closes the door before tapping the glass on Sehun’s window. The older man smiles at Soojung. “Find your answers in Kaptan.”

Junmyeon turns the key in the ignition, revving the vehicle back into action. He speeds out towards the opening of the walls, leaving Changmin standing there, hiding behind the shadows. Soojung turns to search for him and finds the older man lifting one of his hands to wave at them before walking back and disappearing.

Soojung blinks slowly before settling back into her seat. She watches as they approach the walls, becoming closer and closer to the massive structure.

“Act normal.” Junmyeon’s voice is low. “Soojung I trust you to cooperate.”

“Fine.” Soojung says blandly.

 

* * *

 

Oddly enough, the security lets them pass through without questions. Soojung asks Junmyeon about this as they pass through the tunnel connecting Hannan to Kaptan. The older man starts to chuckle.

“I have connections.” Junmyeon says.

Soojung frowns at the meaning of the older man’s words. “Just how many rebels are there in Hannan?”

“I don’t know.” Junmyeon shrugs. “But I’m sure we have enough to help us pass through the walls.”

“Do you have accomplices in other regions too?” Soojung asks curiously.

“How else do you think they recruited me and pale face over here?” Jongin replies.

“Pale face?” Sehun snorts.

“Yeah,” Jongin turns to Sehun, a challenging look on his face. “Got a problem?”

“No.” Sehun laughs. “Of course not charcoal boy.”

Soojung rolls her eyes. She leans forward, nearer to Junmyeon’s headrest to speak with the older man. “So you recruit members from the different regions?”

Junmyeon nods. The sounds of the two boys quarrelling become a background noise to their conversation.

“Do all of them say yes?” Soojung asks. “What happens when they say no?”

“We do nothing to the people who say no.” The corners of Junmyeon’s lips tilt upwards. “They are all free to reject the offer.”

“Really?” The suspicion in Soojung’s voice is obvious and Junmyeon laughs at her.

“Yes Soojung.” Junmyeon replies.

They reach Kaptan soon enough, the lights from the region’s tall buildings illuminating their path. Everything in the region is cringingly white, from the pavements on the streets to the walls of their houses.

“Home.” Sehun sighs.

Soojung looks at him, observing the boy as he watches the houses and buildings pass by. Sehun’s eyes suddenly brighten, he points at something outside.

“That’s my home!” Sehun exclaims.

Sehun’s house is wide, a rectangular structure with cream painted roof. It has a glass door and Soojung can see that the inside is filled with furniture that is just as white as everything.

“Why is everything here white?” Jongin states the obvious.

“Dunno,” Sehun answers. “It has been like that ever since.”

“There’s been nothing written in the books about that too.” Soojung adds.

“All of the houses are the same!” Jongin bellows.

“We like uniformity.” Sehun says airily.

“Is that why all of you are pale?” Jongin retorts cheekily. “Do any of you even go out of your houses?”

“So immature.” Soojung murmurs.

Jongin winks at her and Soojung cringes in disgust. Sehun laughs heartily at the look on her face, Soojung gasps at him, mocking betrayal.

“He was just insulting you!”

“Yeah,” Sehun says. “But you looked funny.”

“We’re here.” Junmyeon interrupts.

The three look out of the window to find a tall structure that seems to be connected to another building built on top of a cliff. The light from the moon reflects brightly on its smooth walls. And from where they are sitting, Soojung can hear the loud whirr of electricity that is travelling on the structure.

Junmyeon parks the car on the side of the road and turns the engine off before climbing out of the car, the other three following suit. Junmyeon steps in front of the door, tapping twice. Something clicks and then a cylindrical device folds out from the door revealing a small camera. Junmyeon leans his head close to the device, the camera facing directly towards one of his eyes. A small light comes out of it, scanning the pupil of Junmyeon’s eye. The camera then retracts back to the wall and Junmyeon leans back, he turns to the people behind him, smiling gently.

The door slides open with a hiss, Junmyeon waits patiently as it opens, and when it does a body suddenly flings out, landing on top of Junmyeon and surprising the older man as strong arms wrap around his neck. Junmyeon laughs and he pats the back of his attacker.

“Hello to you too Jongdae.” Junmyeon breathes out.

“I missed you.” The man, Jongdae, murmurs. He stands up with a wide smile, pulling Junmyeon up with him. Jongdae then turns to Soojung, Sehun, and Jongin, who are all staring at the two of them dumbfounded. “Welcome to the coven!”

“The what?” Jongin whispers and Soojung shakes her head slowly, not knowing how to respond.

“You have been reading too many Old World books Jongdae.” Junmyeon snickers.

Jongdae laughs, eyes turning into crescents. “I had nothing else to do.”

“Everyone, this is Jongdae.” Junmyeon introduces. “He’s a known researcher in this region.”

“You’re a Scholar.” Soojung notices a hint of wonder in Sehun’s voice.

“I am!” Jongdae agrees, but then his head tilts to the side in thought. “Well, I guess I was before I became part of this.”

“Maybe we should discuss this inside.” Junmyeon says.

“Right.” Jongdae ushers them all in.

There seems to be a reception area inside. Small couches are placed strategically on the side and a reception desk on the other. In front of them is a wide stainless elevator door.

“I’m assigned to man this place tonight, that’s why I’m the first person to see you guys.” Jongdae says, pressing the button. “I’ve alerted them so there must be other people waiting for you up there.”

They all enter the elevator quietly. Soojung remains silent as she watches Junmyeon interact with Jongdae. Jongin stands next to her and sneakily elbows her side.

“You alright?” Jongin asks.

“Yeah,” Soojung says, turning her head so she’s facing Jongin. “Why?”

Jongin shrugs. “You’ve been oddly quiet.”

“Why is it odd?” Soojung asks, a put-upon sigh through her nose.

“You have been firing us non-stop questions ever since we got you out of the healing rooms.” Jongin says. “What happened?”

Soojung shakes her head. “Just observing things.”

“Like what?” Jongin inquires.

“They’re so...” Soojung trails off, finding it hard to think of a word.

Jongin smiles at her, waiting.

“Normal.” Soojung finally decides. “The two of them are acting so normal. I was expecting something more-”

“Scary?” Jongin grins. “You were expecting dimly lit rooms and shabby looking people weren’t you?”

“Yes.” Soojung admits before turning to Jongin haughtily. “You did say you were rebels.”

Jongin laughs. “Yeah, we did.”

The elevator rings, announcing their arrival. It opens and Jongdae quickly leads them out into a wide space. There are a number of tall posts all connected to a glass roof, showing the stars twinkling brightly across the sky. Soojung looks at it in wonder, walking with her head titled up to watch the bright lights scattered in the vast sky.

“Wow-” Soojung is cut off when she bumps into Sehun’s back. “What happened?”

“Uhh,” Sehun starts. “There’s someone.”

Junmyeon and Jongdae are talking animatedly to someone, Soojung wants to peek at the person but the two men are blocking her view. Jongdae laughs loudly then turns to look at Soojung, he throws he a wide smile. Soojung frowns at this, confused by the action given by the strange man.

But then Junmyeon steps aside, revealing the person they are talking to. The person, a woman, is garbed in a yellow dress reaching just below her knees. Her hair is tied up in a messy bun, and some of the strands fall beside her face. There are tears in her eyes when she smiles at Soojung, and before the younger girl knows it, she is running towards the woman in full speed, wrapping her arms around her waist as she buries her face into the crook of her neck. There are tears flowing down her own cheeks, and her voice breaks when she speaks the woman’s name.

“Sooyeon.”

The older woman pats her hand gently behind Soojung’s head.

“I’m here,” Sooyeon croons. “Everything’s going to be okay now.”

Soojung continues to sob on her older sister’s shoulder, clutching at her tightly, afraid that she may disappear again, fearing that this may be all just a dream.

Sooyeon’s gentle voice drones into Soojung’s ears. Soojung closes her eyes, feeling the heavy weight on her shoulder dissolve.

 

* * *

 

User 98025 has entered the conversation...

 

98025: They have arrived?

98606: Yes

98025: I expect you to prepare them properly

98025: We don’t have much time.

98606: I understand.

 

User 98606 has left the conversation...

 

98025: They are in danger my friend. 

 


	5. The Numbing Truth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soojung sees someone she thought was dead

Sooyeon places a cup of tea on the table in front of Soojung. She gives the younger girl a small smile and gently pats her shoulder, nodding her head towards the tea as she sits beside Soojung.

“You should drink it,” Sooyeon says. “It will make you feel calmer.”

“I don’t need it.” Soojung shakes her head. Her eyes are still a bit red from the crying she did earlier and it makes her feel embarrassed to face her older sister. She straightens her back and decidedly looks on the other side of the room. “I’m calm.”

The two of them are sitting inside a large office where Joonmyun and the others left them. Soojung curiously eyes the three tall and grey filing cabinets. Each of its drawers is labelled with a different six sets of numbers. She turns her head to the other side of the room and watches the different footages being shown on the multiple monitors that seemed to be built in the walls.  On the third monitor, Soojung finds Joonmyun, Sehun, and Jongin walking in an empty hallway, the three of them walking directly to where the camera is most likely placed. Joonmyun seems to be talking about something and the two younger men look like they are listening to him intently. When they disappear from the monitor, Soojung quickly searches the others one by one until she finds them on the ninth one, this time they are walking away from the camera. They all seem to be oblivious to being recorded.

“We have cameras installed everywhere.” Sooyeon suddenly says.

Soojung blinks at her. “Why?”

“For security reasons of course.” Sooyeon answers simply.

“Are you one of the rebels too Sooyeon?” There’s a slight quiver in Soojung’s voice when she speaks, something that Sooyeon notices right away.

“You don’t have to be afraid of us.” Sooyeon places one of her hands on the side of Soojung’s face, her thumb gently rubbing away the tear stain on the younger girl’s cheek.

“I don’t understand anything.” Soojung croaks. “No one would tell me anything. I don’t know why I’m here.”

“Soojung,” Sooyeon starts, her voice implying the seriousness of what she has to say next. “Dad is here.”

Soojung frowns, mind taking a while to process what her older sister just said. She feels a strange mix of relief and dread in her heart, relief because she now knows that her father is still alive, and dread because of the unknown meaning of this fact.

“How?” Soojung breathes out.

“I think it will be better if he explains it to you himself.” Sooyeon says. “It’s a long story and I’m afraid I won’t be able to explain it all by myself.”

“When can I see him?” Soojung asks.

Sooyeon pauses, thinking, she looks up on the projected time above the door and then she shrugs her shoulders. “Any time now.”

As soon as she says that, they hear two knocks on the door. The two sisters share a look before Sooyeon stands up and quickly walks towards the door. She opens it and looks at the person outside, they share a few whispers before Sooyeon completely opens the door and reveals the person outside.

Soojung gasps sharply, heart beating loudly and body not knowing how to react. They’re long lost father is standing a few steps in front of her, Soojung is lost between wanting to hug him and punching him for leaving their family three years ago. Her father looks at one of her hands clenched on her side, he moves in front of Soojung before kneeling on one knee.

“If you want to hit me, then do it.” Yunho murmurs.

The sound of her father’s voice finally breaks Soojung from her numbness, fresh tears falls from her eyes and her face crumples as she releases sobs. Yunho envelops her inside his strong arms and Soojung is suddenly drowning in memories of her childhood. Her hands move on their own, slapping Yunho’s chest repeatedly.

“Why did you leave? Why did you leave” Soojung chants, voice muffled by her father’s shirt. “Why?”

“I’m sorry.” Yunho whispers, hand gently smoothing the hair on the back of Soojung’s head.

On the other side of the room, Sooyeon is leaning on the wall, watching them with her own teary eyes. A man enters the room and stands beside her, placing one hand on the small of her back, gently leading her outside of the room. Sooyeon follows him out, but not before looking one last time at her reunited father and sister.

Yunho gave his daughter a gentle push so he can look at her face. He wipes the tears on her face, just like how he did when she was still a little child. He smiles at her and proudly thanks his wife inside his head for bringing up Soojung on her own.

“Explanations.” Soojung mutters. “Please.”

Yunho nods. “Alright,” He moves back and pulls out a chair so he can sit in front of Soojung. “But drink your tea first.”

Soojung quickly grabs the cup and swallows all of its contents in large gulps, thankful that the tea is already at room temperature. She discards the empty cup on the table before facing back towards her father.

“Your hunger for knowledge had always been fascinating.” Yunho chuckles. He crosses his legs as he comfortably sits on his chair. “State your questions.”

Soojung mulls, carefully picking out which questions are more important in her head. “What is going in here?” She starts.

“Jonmyun told me that you believe that we are a rebel group. A terrorist.” Yunho says making Soojung nod. “That is somewhat right. We are all against how the System is running our country. This organization was created in order to bring the System down.”

“And your part in here is?” Soojung asks.

“I’m their leader.” Yunho supplies. “I’m one of the founders of this organization.”

Soojung’s eyebrows rise. “That’s a very high position.” She says slowly.

“It is.” Yunho smiles.

“Why are Sooyeon and I here?” Soojung starts again. “Is mom here too?”

“I am afraid the System will soon find out my identity so I decided to bring you and your sister here for your safety. Unfortunately, your mother decided to stay in Sinukwan because your grandparents are very old now and the region will need her to be their next council leader.” Yunho explains.

Soojung frowns when she notices how shaky his hands are, something that he unsuccessfully hides by clasping and unclasping them. “You’re not telling me the whole story, aren’t you?”

Yunho sighs. “Yes.”

“What is it?” Soojung inquires.

“Eighteen years ago, I did something very hateful.” Yunho says. “I played with life.”

“What do you mean?” Soojung feels genuinely confused.

“Genetics.” Yunho says. “I did something very terrible and you will surely hate me for it.”

There is obvious fear in Yunho’s eyes but Soojung cannot figure out why. Yunho flounders for a second, not knowing how to continue.

“The System is a very powerful entity. It has full control over all the regions and all the law makers residing in Hannan treats it as some kind of religion when in  fact it’s only some kind of computer filled with information on how to govern the regions. Every six years the law makers elect one of them to be the System’s vessel, a human sacrifice of some sort. This person undergoes a surgery where the System will be implanted into him, and it will occupy all of his consciousness.” Yunho explains anxiously. “The system will never work without a human vessel.”

The facts stated by her father makes Soojung feel sick. She couldn’t imagine why someone would be willing to undergo such a thing.

“Eighteen years ago,” Yunho continues. “My colleagues and I were finally able to create something that would ultimately destroy the System. But in order to hide it until the right time, we needed to do the unthinkable.”

Soojung looks up towards her father, carefully watching his face. Yunho shifted in his seat, his posture now slouched and seemingly defeated.

“What did you do?” Soojung asks.

“Kahi, one of my colleagues volunteered. She is a doctor and she was pregnant at that time. She said her child would be perfect for the task.” Yunho folds his body, arms resting on his thighs. He clasps his hands together as he continues his story. “We programmed a virus that would kill the System but it needed a container. Some place where we could hide it. At that time we thought the human mind was the perfect place, and Kahi volunteered her own son.”

Soojung pales at this but Yunho is still not finished.

“As soon as she gave birth, my other colleague, Jaejoong, and I did the procedure on the child. The child’s mind was still fresh, it was quite easy but there was a problem.” Yunho sighs. “If we put the whole code inside his mind the child would die. Kahi was devastated. We cut the code in half, put the first half in the child’s mind and stored the other.”

“Why would you-” Soojung starts but Yunho cuts her off.

“We thought that was the end of it. That we failed.” Yunho gravely shakes his head. “But then this young girl approached us. She was pregnant and unmarried, and she knew what would happen to the child if Hannan finds out. They would kill the child and the young girl would be Delivered.”

“She would be killed.” Soojung murmurs.

“Yes.” Yunho exhales. “We don’t know how she found out about our experiment, but there she was, willingly offering a new container for us. It gave us another chance. The operation was successful and both of the children are healthy. But the young girl disappeared. She didn’t even stay to name her child. Kahi, Jaejoong, and I decided to separate the babies so we can hide them well.” Yunho lifts his head, miserable eyes gazing at Soojung. “And now, after eighteen years they are finally back here.”

“What?” Soojung whispers. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Soojung you’re-”

“No!” Soojung exclaims, standing up and briskly walking towards the door. She hastily opens it before bursting out of the room, blindly running to wherever it is her feet takes her. She runs through hallways after hallways, passing through startled people who she doesn’t recognize. None of them stop her though, something she is thankful for. She wouldn’t be able to explain to them who she is anymore.

Her father looked at her earlier with eyes so full of grief while he explains the story about the two children they experimented on. They did the experiment eighteen years ago, and now those children are back here. Soojung’s feet jerks to a stop, her knees buckle and she falls heavily on the ground on her back.

The last thing she sees before her eyes closes is a roof made out of glass, making her see the clear sky, preparing itself for the sunrise, and then everything turns black.

 

* * *

 

Soojung wakes up to a dimly lit room. The walls are painted with a nice shade of purple and there is a small window beside the bed that she is lying on. She slowly plants her bare feet on the cold ground before pushing herself up and padding towards the door. She notices that her clothes are new so someone must have changed it while she was asleep. The door makes a creaking sound as it opens, making Soojung wince. The next room seems to be the living room. There is a small couch in the middle of it and table in front of it. There’s a small folded paper placed on top of the table, Soojung picks it up and opens it. Written on it is a small note signed by Sooyeon.  _Make yourself at home,_ it says. Soojung crumples the paper in her hands before uncaringly dropping it on the floor.

She leaves Sooyeon’s home and starts walking outside, arms wrapped around herself and hair flowing down the sides of her face in an untamed shape. Soojung’s eyes are blank, and she seems to be not herself. She finds herself back under the glass roof, and this time she notices the large fountain in the middle of it, there’s a statue of a person in the center of the fountain, surrounded by the water sprinkling upwards. Soojung walks until she is in front of it. The statue is of a woman with hands in front of chest, palms against each other. There is a strange pair of large wings on her back, Soojung wonders if someone like that truly exists. She sits down in front of the fountain, wrapping her arms around her folded knees, pressing them closer to her chest. Soojung closes her eyes, and listens to the sounds of the water coming out of the fountain. She stays like that for a while, and it somehow makes her feel calm. She tries not to think about her father again. Suddenly, she feels a presence on her side, she slowly opens her eyes and turns her head.

Soojung finds Sehun sitting next to her, legs stretched out in front of him and head thrown back as he looks up in the sky. There’s a sad look on his face.

“Hey,” Soojung says.

“Hey.” Sehun answers. It takes him a couple of seconds to speak again. “Did they tell you?”

“About?” Soojung asks, pretending to be oblivious.

“That shit they did to me eighteen years ago?” Sehun utters, voice clipped.

Soojung turns her head away from the boy. _So he’s the first experiment._  “I try not to think about it anymore.”

“You’re the second child, right?” Sehun continues.

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Soojung grits out.

“Well, it’s either we talk about it now or you stay like a numb ghost forever.” Sehun says. Soojung presses her lips together, determined to stay quiet. Sehun rolls his eyes at her. “Did you ask her name? Your real mother I mean."

Soojung refuses to acknowledge his question and Sehun sighs, feeling like he is only talking to himself. “Well, I asked.” He says. “Her name was Yoona.”

Soojung suddenly turns to him, hands quickly finding their way to slap his shoulder. “I told you I don’t want to talk about it!” Soojung screeches, while repeatedly whacking Sehun’s arm.

“Stop!” That hurts!” Sehun screams.

Soojung leaves two more slaps on Sehun’s arm before finally stopping. Sehun starts rubbing his arm, while pouting at Soojung.

“Stop that face.” Soojung murmurs. She looks back up towards the strange statue. “Do you know who your mom is?”

Sehun shakes his head. “I’ve never heard of the name Kahi before. My grandparents mentioned a different name for my parents. I guess they lied.” He picks up a small pebble on the ground before throwing it on the water. “What I’m curious about is how Yunho never mentioned a dad. It’s like he didn’t want me to know who he is.”

“The woman—Yoona. She was unmarried and Dad probably didn’t know her lover’s name too.” Soojung says.

Sehun turns to her, eyebrows raised. “You still call Yunho dad?”

“It’s-” Soojung starts. “A habit. I don’t know what else to call him. Just Yunho seems to be a bit disrespectful.”

“He experimented on you and lied about it. If I were you I would’ve lost all my respect.” Sehun says.

“Too bad you’re not me, huh?” Soojung murmurs, mostly to herself.

“Anyway,” Sehun’s expression hardens. “Yunho said Kahi will be coming here in three days.”

“Oh,” Soojung gasps, wondering what that meant. “Did he tell why?”

“Another experiment probably,” Sehun snorts.

“I don’t think I-” Soojung says, a little numbly.

“Neither do I,” Sehun frowns. “But it seems we don’t have a choice.”

Soojung’s face dims. She slowly rewraps her arms around herself again, and she tries very hard about what might happen in three days. Sehun places his head on top of Soojung’s shoulder before releasing a heavy sigh.

“I think we’ll be fine.” Sehun says quietly.

Soojung tries very hard to believe him.

 

* * *

Soojung belatedly realizes that her older sister is pregnant.

“I’m so sorry.” Soojung apologizes again.

Sooyeon only laughs at her, while one of her hands unconsciously rubs small circles across her belly. Her pregnancy is actually not that obvious, her stomach is still not that big, still just a small bump that can be hidden with the right clothes, but it still made Soojung feel horrible for not noticing earlier.

“You don’t have to say sorry so many times Soojung,” Sooyeon says while lying down on the couch. “You were very preoccupied and I understand that.”

Soojung shakes her head, fingers tracing the embossed title of one of Sooyeon’s books. “Still...”

The knowledge of her not being Sooyeon’s real sister seems to have no effect between the two girls’ relationship. Sooyeon still cares for her and adores her, the same way she did before they were separated.

“Who’s the father?” Soojung asks from where she sits on the carpeted floor of Soooyeon’s living room.

“A wonderful man.” Sooyeon answers, smile wide and bright. “We got married last year in Cirena before dad asked me to come here.”

“And he stayed in Cirena?” Soojung frowns.

“No!” Sooyeon exclaims happily. “He’s here! He became the official doctor.”

Sooyeon laughs as if that is the most wonderful thing to happen, and maybe it is for her, but Soojung will never understand why.

“I should meet him.” Soojung says airily, placing the book she’s playing with back on the table. “So I can interrogate him and stuff.”

“I’m sure you’ll like him.” Sooyeon giggles. She pulls out a small note from the pocket of her dress before handing it to Soojung. The younger girl reads the words written on it with a raised eyebrow.

“What’s this?” Soojung asks.

“Your official schedule.” Sooyeon answers. “You’ll have to attend trainings and volunteer in the cafeteria. Everyone here has a job.”

Soojung looks up at her, tucking the note inside her back pocket. “And what do you do?”

“I babysit the children here.” Sooyeon smiles. “Small little creatures with very evil ideas. They remind me of you.”

Soojung snorts. “Of course they do.”

Sooyeon gently pats her head. “You’ll be fine Soojung.” She reassures. “Don’t worry.”

“I’ll try.” Soojung says half-heartedly.

“I hear trainings are fun.” Sooyeon says thoughtfully. “They teach you how to fight and shoot guns and all those bad stuff.”

“Interesting,” Soojung chuckles.

“They are!” Sooyeon says. “I watched it with Jinki once, the trainers were very kind.”

“Jinki?” Soojung asks.

“Oh, right.” Sooyeon laughs. “That’s the name of my husband.”

Soojung hums. “I’ll remember that.”

“You should.” Sooyeon agrees. “My husband’s name is very important. He’s a doctor.”

“Stop bragging Sooyeon.” Soojung says, smiling.

“I’m happy with him.” Sooyeon says dreamily.

“I know you are.” Soojung smirks, gently patting Sooyeon’s baby bump. “There’s enough proof here.”

Sooyeon’s cheeks redden from embarrassment. She throws a pillow at Soojung’s face. “Brat.”

Soojung laughs at the older woman. She stands up and goes to the kitchen, bringing out a small bottle of water from the refrigerator. She takes small sips before placing it on the counter, and then she pulls out the note from her back pocket and starts reading again the last sentence written on it.

_Special training with Sehun under the guidance of Doctor Kahi in three days._

* * *

 

File no. 2394

INFORMATION: Identification of assumed leaders of the rebellious organization threatening the System.

 

Name: KAHI

Occupation: DOCTOR

Region: CIRENA

Status: MISSING

 

Name: YUNHO

Occupation: WINERY OWNER

Region: SINUKWAN

Status: MISSING

 

Name: JAEJOONG

Occupation: LAW MAKER

Region: HANNAN

Status: UNKNOWN

 

NOTE: The System orders that the above mention individuals be detained and brought to Hannan for questioning.


	6. Put The Puzzle Together

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soojung and Sehun starts their training.

The first time Soojung saw the gymnasium, her jaw almost dropped.  The region has kindly let the rebels _borrow_ it and Soojung has been told many times by her trainer about how much they appreciate it. The gymnasium is usually filled by people training except for the days when Soojung and Sehun use it for their own special trainings. Soojung is quite thankful for this because she doesn’t really want anyone to see how much the trainer is kicking her around. It’s already embarrassing just thinking about it.

Soojung wipes a trail of sweat from the side of her face. The trainer assigned to her is currently crouched in front of her, already poised for Soojung’s next futile attack. She must be bored by now, but Soojung will give her credit for not showing it.

Soojung bites her bottom lip, eyes trailing towards the trainer’s torso which is completely not shielded. She takes a deep breath before lifting both fists in front of her face. The trainer gives her a cocky smirk, urging her to go ahead and attack. Soojung complies, running forward and using all her strength as she swings a punch. But the trainer quickly sees this, stepping aside and grabbing Soojung’s arm before moving behind Soojung and pushing her down on the floor. Soojung falls on her face, mouth opening for a loud scream as the trainer twists her arm behind her back.

The trainer only releases her arm after Soojung has completed three rapid taps on the floor mat. Soojung closes her eyes, waiting for the still lingering pain on her arm to disappear.

“Are you alright, girl?” The trainer kneels beside Soojung and pats her back, the gentleness a complete contrast to how she just beat the crap out of Soojung earlier.

“No.” Soojung groans. “I think I need to go see my sister’s husband and get a check-up.”

The trainer snorts. “No, you don’t. You just need more training.”

Soojung pushes herself off the floor and twists her body so she can sit down. She looks on the far side of the gym and watches Sehun still sparring with his assigned trainer. Sehun surprisingly has good technique, something the young man claims he learned from reading books. Soojung doubts this.

“I’m still surprised at how well a Kaptan scholar fights. Shouldn’t they be only good in academics?”

“Your prejudice will do you no good.” The trainer says slowly. “Here we are all equal.”

“I know.” Soojung sighs. “I’m sorry.”

The trainer nods. “I am supposed to make you run five laps later but I remember that today is your special training with the doctor, am I right?”

“Yes.” Soojung confirms. “Can you tell what you know about her?”

“I haven’t actually seen doctor Kahi before, but I have heard from many people how kind she is.” The trainer shrugs. “That’s all I know.”

“Thanks.” Soojung mutters before standing up. She turns back to watch Sehun, just in time to see his trainer throw him to the ground.

“That’s going to hurt.” Soojung’s trainer says airily before turning around and walking towards the gymansium’s exit, while waving at Soojung. “You better get ointments for him.”

 

* * *

 

 “Are you sure you’re fine?”

Sehun is sprawled on top of two tables that they put together. He’s currently on his stomach, groaning every now and then while Soojung massages a healing ointment on his back. They went to the infirmary earlier and luckily met Jinki there who gave them a small flask of what he says is an effective remedy for pain.

“I am.” Sehun murmurs. “I just wish this training thing with the doctor gets over quickly.”

“I seriously don’t think it would.” Soojung says. She pours the last content of the flask on Sehun’s back before spreading it evenly on his skin. “But for your sake I hope it does.”

“Me too.”

“We should have stayed in the infirmary longer and have Jinki check up on you better.” Soojung wipes her hands on her cotton pants.

“Nah,” Sehun shakes his head as he sits up on the table. “I don’t want those other kids to see us there.”

Soojung admits that Sehun has a point. The other younger members of the rebels have already alienated them because of the special treatment given to them. They were hoping to at least talk to Jongin, but they haven’t seen the boy yet.

Their conversation halts when the door suddenly opens. A woman wearing a lab robe enters the room. She has an angular face that is softened by her long and wavy brown hair, and a dimple appears on her cheek as she smiles at Soojung. She gently closes the door behind her before walking towards the table on the center of the room where she puts down a pile of papers. Soojung notices the small letters sewn on the pocket of her robe and she mentally reads it. _Doctor K._ it says.  Soojung realizes that this woman is the colleague that Yunho was talking about before, the doctor who sacrificed her own son for the sake of the rebel group’s vision.

This woman is Doctor Kahi, and she is Sehun’s mother.

Doctor Kahi clears her throat before speaking. “The two of you must be Soojung and Sehun.” The smile on her face wavers slightly as she takes a glance at Sehun. “My name is Kahi, and I believe Yunho has already explained to you both why you’re here.”

Soojung nods at her while Sehun just stares. Soojung can see him clenching and unclenching his fist. She understands what Sehun feels towards the woman, but she hopes he wouldn’t do or say anything bad to her.

“Well now it’s my turn to explain to you why _I’m_ here.” Kahi says. She picks up two papers from the pile on the table before handing one each to Sehun and Soojung. “But first, those are the lists of books that I want you to read. They are all available in Kaptan’s main library.”

“You’re not allowed to enter the main library if you’re not a Scholar.” Sehun speaks for the first time.

“I know.” The doctor responds. “That’s why I asked Junmyeon to get you passes. You can get it from him later.”

Kahi stands tall in front of the room. Her presence making Soojung feel like she is back inside the confines of Sinkuwan’s classrooms together with the Kaptan teachers that she spites. Not that she spites the doctor, she doesn’t, but the aura she has does feel very similar to every Kaptan teacher that Soojung has the misfortune to meet.

Soojung hurriedly pulls out a chair and sits down on it like the good student that she was back at home. Meanwhile Sehun stays seated on top of the table, his long legs swinging lazily.

“Now I know that Yunho only told you that the system virus that we made needed a container, and that became the two of you. That is why we needed you to be here so we can keep you safe until the right time comes.”  Kahi says. “Jaejoong, one of our colleagues disappeared two years after the experiment. We don’t know what happened to him but there’s a high possibility that he was captured by Hannan, and I know for certain that they will do everything to get information out of him.”

“That time, the two of you weren’t ready for the training required to keep the code safe, so Yunho and I decided to let the two of you lead a normal life. You stayed with Yunho and his family as their youngest daughter.” The doctor says to Soojung before turning towards Sehun. “And you had to stay with my late husband’s parents here in Kaptan. They’re also part of the council so hiding your real identity would be easier since they have a high position in this region.”

“So you mean to say that my father is dead?” Sehun asks. “How did he die?”

“He had been sick for a long time.” The doctor says, wistfully. “He fought for so long but everyone knew he would be succumbing to death soon, so when it finally happened, not even I was surprised."

Sehun nods his head, he opens his mouth as if he’s about to ask something again, but he stops himself shortly and shakes his head before looking down.

Soojung takes this opportunity to change the subject. “So this training…”

“Right.” Kahi says. “I was called here to train the two of you on how you can keep the codes safe.”

The doctor picks up a piece of paper and a pen. She places the paper on top of the table where Sehun is seating. Kahi motions for Soojung to stand up beside her so can see what Kahi is about to do. Soojung quickly  complies and once satisfied, Kahi starts drawing an X on the middle of the paper. Soojung and Sehun both look at it in confusion.

 “This here is the code.” She then draws a circle around it. “And this is its first line of defence, a password to keep it from being accessed by people that shouldn’t know about it.” Sehun and Soojung nod. Kahi starts another drawing beside it, this time an X inside a square box. “The passwords the two of you have are unique from each other. The password for Soojung’s code cannot be used to access Sehun’s code.”

“When we were younger, the three of us thought that this would be enough to keep the codes and the two of you safe since we were the only ones who know the passwords.” Kahi laughs bitterly. “That was before Jaejoong disappeared.”

Kahi takes the paper back to her own table. She crosses her arms in front of her chest as she continues her explanation.

“See, what happens when the password is used on you is very tough.” Kahi tucks in a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. “You lose control of your body and during that time your body will unconsciously do anything to get the codes out. It will become very complicated if not done in the right way.”

“I cannot picture it in my head,” Soojung mutters, head cocking to the side as she sits back on her chair.

“Like I said, it is very complicated.” Kahi says. “The passwords must only be given to you at the right place and at the right time.”

“When and where is this right place and time?” Sehun asks.

“The “when” is very hard to tell since it depends on lots of factors and on whether or not the two of you are ready to do it.” Kahi explains. “But the “where” is preferably inside Hannan’s Bureau of Defence since that is where they keep the vessel.”

“According to the Book of Law, that place is heavily guarded by Apolaki military personnel.” Sehun says and Kahi looks impressed by Sehun’s knowledge of said book, while Soojung snorts thinking about the difference in education between Sinukwan and Kaptan.

“How are we going to get inside one of the best guarded place in the whole country?” Sehun asks.

“We will know when the opportunity presents itself.”  Kahi shrugs before smirking. “I did tell you that our “when” depends on a lot of things, right?”

Sehun only scowls at her.

“Your actual training will begin tomorrow since the apparatus that we need for that arrived quite late today, and I still need time to set it up.” Kahi nods to the number of boxes placed at the back of the room.

“So today is only for introduction purposes only.” Soojung states.

“Yes.” Kahi confirms before turning towards Sehun. “And also, I need to talk to you.”

This surprises Sehun and the doctor smiles at him before she looks back at Soojung. “You can go ahead Soojung, we will see each other again tomorrow.”

Soojung nods at her, thankful for the fact that she could escape from this awkward atmosphere, before clumsily standing up and patting one of Sehun’s knees, startling the boy. She scoffs at Sehun who is currently sporting an obvious blush on his cheeks despite the frown on his face. Sehun mouths an “I hate you” at her as Soojung walks away from him and out of the room.

 

* * *

 

 “So what you’re saying right now is that doctor Kahi was very different from how you imagine her to be.” Sooyeon says as she cleans up the dirt on the face of the toddler on her lap. “Am I right?”

“Yeah,” Sooung mutters from her position on the floor where the other children are playing with her hair. “She was so normal. I thought so many bad things about her, now I feel guilty about it.”

Sooyeon laughs. “I’m sure she will understand.”

“She seems very nice.” Soojung says. “But it was so awkward when she said that she wants to talk to Sehun alone. It was so funny how Sehun’s face went through so many different emotions in a span of seconds.”

“Don’t be mean to him” Sooyeon chastises. “Aren’t the two of you friends?”

“We are!” Soojung says. “And that’s why I’m allowed to tease him.”

Sooyeon only shakes her head while laughing at Soojung. She finishes cleaning the child’s face and pats his head, after that, the child runs towards his friends.

“Sooyeon you will be a good mom.” Soojung smiles at Sooyeon. “You’re definitely going to be better than mom.”

 _Even better than my real mother,_  Soojung thinks.

“Once you get older and find a good husband, I’m sure you’ll be a good mom too.” Sooyeon says.

“I don’t know about that,” Soojung sighs, running a hand through the tangles on her hair made by the children. “I don’t even know if I’m still considered human. I may as well be called a human storage device.”

Sooyeon frowns. “Don’t say that.” Soojung is surprised at how angry Sooyeon suddenly sounds. “You are just as human as any of us are. And don’t you ever forget about that.”

“O-Okay.” Soojung blinks at Sooyeon, who still has her eyebrows furrowed and lips pursed. “Please don’t be angry at me?”

“I’m not angry at you.” Sooyeon heaves a sigh. “Just don’t say stuff like that again. It’s going to make the baby in me mad.”

Sooyeon takes one of Soojung’s hands and places it on top of her belly. Soojung laughs at her.

“Sooyeon you’re still months away from having a baby kicking from in there, you know?” Soojung says.

“I know that.” Sooyeon says. “I just want to you to promise to the baby that you are never going to say stuff like that again.”

Soojung laughs at her again, but Sooyeon is persistent so Soojung yields. “Alright.” She looks directly at her sister’s barely seen baby bump while struggling to keep a straight face. “I promise.”

“Good.”

 

* * *

 

 

Soojung finds herself the next day walking towards one of the newest filled office in the building they are staying. It’s still quite early in the morning and only a few of the people are already awake, Soojung preferred it that way since her plan today is something a bit personal, something that she has to do without anyone else interrupting. She reaches the last room in the hallway and gently knocks three times on the door. It takes a while, but when it opens, she is greeted by the sight of doctor Kahi garbed in a simple brown dress and wearing thick glasses. Soojung notes that the doctor looks even more approachable now without her lab coat.

“Good morning doctor.” Soojung greets her.

“Good morning,” Kahi says it like a question. “You’re quite early. The training doesn’t start for …” She looks back inside her room for a second before turning back to Soojung. “Three hours.”

“I know.” Soojung says. “But I came here for another thing.”

“Alright,” Kahi mutters. “What is it?”

Soojung bites her lip. Thinking about how she should form her words in a way that wouldn’t make her sound desperate. She gives up soon though, thinking that prolonging her silence would bore Kahi and ultimately lessen her chance of getting what she wants. Soojung opens her mouth and says the first thing that comes to her mind.

“Can you tell me anything you know about my mother?”

Kahi stares at her blankly for a moment, probably considering whether or not she should shoo Soojung away. But then she tilts her head to the side and opens the door to her room widely.

“Come in.” Kahi says. “I’ll tell you all I can remember about her.”

 

* * *

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> you can also read this fic in [Livejournal](http://polychromeboxes.livejournal.com/2537.html) and [Asianfanfics](http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/425517/18)


	7. Half Lies

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soojung never imagined she'd be jealous of Sehun.

Soojung follows Kahi inside the room. The older woman points to one of the plush chairs, silently urging Soojung to sit on it, to which the girl complies. Kahi sits down in front of Soojung, she folds her hands in her lap and stares at Soojung with curiosity.

“Will you really tell me about her?” Soojung starts. “Will you tell me everything?”

“Why are you so eager to learn about the woman?” Kahi ignores Soojung’s questions and throws back her own instead. “What started this?”

“Nothing.” Soojung says. “I just want to learn about her.”

Kahi smiles. “Well first off I must say that the first time I saw you I thought it was Yoona standing there before me. You look so much like her.”

“Figures.” Soojung snorts. “I’ve never really looked anything like the woman who raised me, nor do I look like Yunho. I got teased a lot by the other kids because of that.”

“I’m sorry about that.” Kahi says it so gently but there’s something lacking in her voice that Soojung cannot place. “If only Yoona didn’t go away then we could have done something to let the two of you live together in secret. I’m sure she would have been a great mother to you.”

“Yoona was a gentle young woman, a newly Transitioned nurse in Cirena, and a friendly person. She knew immediately the danger that would happen to you if Hannan found out about her illegal pregnancy so she sought us out.” Kahi continues and Soojung listens to her every word intently. “I don’t know how she found out about us to be honest. She just appeared here in Kaptan unannounced with a seven months child growing inside her womb. Yoona insisted that she’d rather choose a complicated life for you than to not let you experience life at all. And of course we saw that as a great opportunity for us since it has already been months since the failure we had with the first child and we almost already gave up.”

The last sentence of the doctor annoys Soojung for a bit and she raises an eyebrow at the doctor. She wonders if Kahi realizes that she just offhandedly called Sehun, her own son, a failure.

“What is it?” Kahi asks.

Soojung shakes her head. “Nothing. I have a question though.”

“Go ahead.” Kahi says. “Isn’t that what you’re here for? To ask questions, right?”

“Yes.” Soojung says, clasping her hands together. “Do you have any idea why she left? Did you notice anything odd about her before she suddenly disappeared?”

Kahi sighs and shakes her head. “I’m sorry but no. She seemed normal before and after she gave birth to you. She acted like a real mother towards you. Yoona saw to it that all of your needs will be provided. It is still a mystery to us why she left only a month after your birth.”

Soojung nods in defeat, another fact remains as a mystery about her biological mother. “And then after that Yunho decided to take me.”

“That’s right. He felt that you were his responsibility.” Kahi says. “It was a good thing that his wife is connected to members of the council in Sinukwan, so it was easy to sneak you in as one of their daughters.”

A sudden beeping sound coming out of Kahi’s kitchen startles them. Kahi murmurs apologies as she stands up and leaves Soojung in the living room while she attends to it. Soojung watches the older woman’s hurried pacing inside the kitchen through the open door. The beeping must be from a kitchen device that Kahi forgot to turn off.

She learned about a few facts about the woman, Yoona, today. But they aren’t enough to create an image of what kind of mother she was to Soojung. No one knows why she left or where she went.

Is she still alive?

Soojung sighs and rubs her eyes with the back of her hand. She didn’t get enough sleep last night, too anxious to let her mind rest. Their physical training later would definitely suck for her today.

A table on one side of the living room catches Soojung’s attention. It is full of framed photographs, showing Kahi’s life outside Kaptan. Soojung walks towards the table and picks up one, a photo of Kahi with a number of people inside what seems like a laboratory. Every one of them is wearing lab coats but the photograph seems informal despite the uniform they have, even Kahi herself is sporting a wide smile on this photo. Soojung notices a young man on the photo, one of his arms draped comfortably on Kahi’s shoulders.

“My colleagues are all fun people. Working with all of them had been a pleasure.”

Kahi appears beside Soojung with a mug of steaming coffee on one hand. Soojung blushes, embarrassed to be caught looking at something so private.

“If you’re curious all you have to do is ask, Soojung.” Kahi says.

“I…. Well ….” Soojung stutters. “The man..” She points at the person standing beside Kahi on the picture. “Is he Sehun’s father?”

The question catches Kahi off guard, and it takes her a moment to process Soojung’s question but when she did, the older woman surprises Soojung by laughing loudly.

Kahi wipes a tear on the corner of her eye as she looks at Soojung with amusement. “That boy is not Sehun’s father. He could not be the father because he was only a year old when Sehun was born.”

Soojung blinks at her. “Oh. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.” Kahi says, handing Soojung the mug on her hand before sitting down on a chair. “That’s my assistant. He arrived one day in front of my laboratory looking like a starved stray dog. I took him in, fed him, gave him clothes, and such. In exchange he promised to help in doing errands for my team, ofcourse prior to that we had to make sure that he has no connections to Hannan.”

“He grew a strong interest in our research and after a few years, when he was old enough, the team decided to let him be part of us. I was very fond of that child.” Kahi sighs. “I guess in a way I treated him the same way I would’ve treated Sehun if we were together.”

Soojung looks at the wistful expression on the older woman’s face and feels a pang of pity towards her. There will be no excuse for what she had done to both Soojung and Sehun, but it cannot be denied how this also affected Kahi.

“Is it alright for me to ask what you and Sehun talked about the other day?”

Kahi smiles sadly. “I asked for his forgiveness.”

“Did he?” Soojung asks.

Kahi carefully takes the photo from Soojung’s hand and places it gently back on the table. She turns her back on Soojung and slowly walks towards the window of her room.

“I’ll see you in training later Soojung.”

 

* * *

 

Soojung frowns at Sehun as the boy prattles on and on about the Old World journal he had found in one of his adventures inside the library. She remembers the sad look on Kahi’s face and the unanswered question that she left hanging in the air that morning.

“Are you listening to me?” Sehun throws a crumpled piece of paper at Soojung’s face.

“No.” Soojung grumbles. “I was remembering something.”

“Nonsense!” Sehun declares. “What could be more important than this discovery of mine?”

“Why are you so hyper today?” Soojung glares at him as she steals the old journal from Sehun’s hands.

The tattered pages of the journal have turned yellow through the years and most of it is missing. But Soojung admits that something written back in the formation of their country certainly raised her interest, specially the short part describing something that they only know as the war that destroyed the The Old World.

“That is the most detailed explanation of the war I that I have ever read.” Sehun states. “Don’t you wonder why they didn’t teach everything in school? They always told us that the details have been lost because of time, but look at that! The true story was only rotting inside an old library here in Kaptan.”

“Maybe they thought we only needed to know the important parts.” Soojung says. “The Old World leaders messed up. They fought and killed a lot of people while destroying the world. Don’t repeat that kids.”

“But how sure are they that it won’t be repeated if we barely understand how it happened?” Sehun presses on. “Look around you Soojung, war is going to happen again and the two of us are in the center of it.”

Soojung freezes in the middle of turning a page before looking up at Sehun. She quickly closes the journal and pushes it back towards Sehun. The boy smirks at her, Soojung decides that she doesn’t like that arrogant smirk.

Soojung leans back on her chair and crosses her arms in front of her chest. “I really don’t want to be reminded of that fact outside of our trainings.”

“Well what else can we do, Soojung?” Sehun says. “We can’t run away from it forever.”

“I don’t want this.” Soojung murmurs. “I wanted things to change but not like this.”

“It’ll be better to just accept it and move on.” Sehun says, he uses a pen to carve shapes on the wooden table, Soojung recognizes them as the ones Kahi drew before to explain to them the code.

“I went to see Kahi earlier.” Soojung says.

Sehun looks up at her. “Yeah?”

“I asked her about my mother.” Soojung clears her throat. “She explained a lot of things.”

“Sehun,” Soojung starts. “Why won’t you forgive her?”

Sehun drops the pen on the table and it rolls to the side and falls on the floor. “I just can’t.”

“You know, you’re lucky you still have a mother.” Soojung stares at Sehun, and at that moment she realizes how jealous she is of the boy. “You’re lucky you know that the woman who gave birth to you is still alive and despite of her being away you know that she still cares about you. Not everyone has the opportunity to have that.”

Soojung hates how bitter she sounds. She hates the tears that are threatening to spill out from her eyes.

“Do you honestly believe that woman cares about my safety?” The anger on Sehun’s eyes makes Soojung turn away from the young man. “A mother who cares about her child wouldn’t do the same thing she has done. If she cares about me then she wouldn’t put me through all of this. She wouldn’t put a code inside my head and leave me in a situation where Hannan can easily have me Delivered.”

Sehun angrily kicks the foot of the table. “For a second back then I was actually happy to see her. All my life I thought I was an orphan, you know? That’s what my grandparents told me. And I believed it. But then I found out I have a mother, that she’s alive, and I will be able to meet her.” Sehun wipes a hand over his face. Soojung looks back at him and the frustration on her friend’s face makes Soojung want to be swallowed by the floor. “But then she started talking about how important this mission is, how the moment she found out that she was pregnant she knew that my existence will be vital for the success of it. And you know what? She even had the decency to say that she was slightly disappointed when my brain failed to be able to handle all of the code. Soojung she was disappointed that I wasn’t the perfect storage she thought I was. Do you still think she cares about me?”

Soojung is taken aback by this. She opens her mouth to apologize to Sehun but the young man has already stood up and is already starting to walk away from her. Sehun leaves her alone but Soojung can still feel his anger in the air. She releases a shaky breath and picks up one of the papers that Sehun accidentally left on the table. It was the list of books that the doctor gave them. The title of the books ranges from books about history, psychology, and even warfare.

A scoff escapes from Soojung’s mouth when she realizes what Kahi is trying to do.

The doctor was trying to make a perfect soldier out of them.

 

* * *

 

 

\--click--

 

“Have you finished the preparations Jinah?”

...........

“Yes. I looked for information regarding the mother of the girl. Apparently she’s already dead.”

...........

“Just make sure it will be me who will face the boy. You’re free to eliminate everyone else.”

...........

“Ha ha ha. I understand.”

...........

“Yes coming back to that appalling region would definitely be nostalgic. I can’t wait to see the look on their faces when they see me. Imagining it alone already excites me.”

...........

“That woman could rot in hell for all I care. The only thing important for me is the success of this mission.”

...........

“Well that would be interesting. I’m sure Kyuhyun would be delighted to hear your idea.”

...........

“Alright. I will see you in three days.”

 

\--click--


	8. Thorny Vines

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A challenge presents itself

Soojung cannot concentrate on the attacks being thrown by the instructor. She can already feel a huge bruise forming on her left arm, the one which seems to be her instructor’s favorite target today. Soojung moves in, keeping her head low and quickly aiming a punch directly at the instructor’s face, it hits the instructor’s cheek and Soojung smiles to herself, but her victory is short because the instructor quickly counters by turning and hitting Soojung’s windpipe with a knifehand, knocking the air out of Soojung and making her take a step backward. The instructor follows her by planting a strong punch in her stomach. The pain makes Soojung bend forward but she is only given a second to breathe before the instructor attacks her again by hitting the back of Soojung’s head with a palm.

Soojung falls down to the ground panting, feeling very close to fainting. The spotless floor gives her a full view of how messy she looks, and the bruises on her face. Soojung pushes herself off the floor only to fall down again a moment later because of a kick to her side. The instructor tries to land a kick on her again but Soojung sees this so she rolls to the side before moving up into a crouch and blocking her instructor’s next kick with her arms. Soojung catches the instructor’s leg with her hands and pulls it, making the instructor lose her balance. Soojung takes this opportunity to stand up and using whatever’s left of her energy to throw a kick towards the instructor’s face. But the instructor only flicks this off with her arm, and with a menacing smile, the older woman stands up and attacks Soojung.

The sparring ends with a coughing and wheezing Soojung crouched down on the floor. She hears footsteps so she turns her head to the side. White studded boots greet her, and she already knows that these are her instructor’s feet. Her body has been quite _acquainted_ with those boots earlier.

“You’re getting better,” The instructor says. “You successfully landed a hit on me today.”

“Compared to all the ones I got from you…” Soojung groans. “There’s no competition.”

“I never said there was a competition.” The instructor scoffs. “I was merely praising you.”

“Well, thanks.” Soojung mutters before deciding that she doesn’t feel like throwing up on the white pristine floor anymore, and pushes herself off the floor.

She looks up at the older woman and sure enough there is a small bruise forming on one of her cheeks. This makes Soojung smile.

The instructor puts down a bottle of water next to Soojung’s knee.

“You were quite distracted earlier.” She says, intrigued. “And you have a scheduled meeting with the doctor later. Will you be fine?”

Soojung sighs, thinking about Kahi and Sehun.

“Maybe.”

 

* * *

 

The air in the room is cold and heavy. Not literally, but in a way that makes Soojung fidget ever minute, eyes glancing towards the boy hunched over a book on the other side of the room. Sehun hasn’t said a word to her ever since the moment she arrived, but Soojung can see his eyes moving away from the book to where Soojung is seated. Sometimes when they have contact, Sehun would even glare at her.

“So childish.” Soojung mutters to herself.

Kahi then enters the room. She quickly situates herself in the middle of the room where two huge figures covered in white cloth stands. Kahi pulls them off one by one, revealing two machines that are quite familiar with Soojung.

“I’ve seen those before.” Soojung says, standing up and walking towards the machines so she can see them up close.

“Of course you have.” Kahi confirms. “Hannan used a similar machine for the Transition Ceremony.

Soojung inspects the machines. They are two metal chairs with leather seats, each of its arms have straps and a long line of syringes ready to pop out to inject whoever’s arm will be placed on top of them with whatever chemical they are filled with.

“They look scarier than how I remember them to be.” Soojung comments. “They only injected us with one syringe before.”

“And that is where Hannan went wrong.” Kahi says. “They used a still unfinished prototype. That wasn’t enough to protect your mind from the effects of the machine.”

“Are you saying you completed the project?” Sehun speaks for the first time.

“It was mine to begin with.” Kahi shrugs. “Some incompetent idiots decided to take over while I was gone, but they didn’t have enough of the original plan to help them so they made their own version.”

Kahi presses something on her computer and the two machines boots into life.

”The original plan was for this machine to help humans strengthen their mind’s defense.” Kahi gives the two of them a meaningful look. “It was made for the two of you.”

“And how will it help us strengthen our mind?” Soojung asks. “By putting us into hallucinations?”

“In a way.” Kahi answers. “I’ve explained to the two of you yesterday how the codes inside you heads are being defended by a password, right?”

Soojung and Sehun both nod silently at this.

“This time we will be creating a second level of defense for it.” Kahi continues. “Another set of barrier created by opening a small part of your mind and making it attack whoever it is that opened the code in the wrong way.”

“I’m confused.” Soojung admits and Kahi smiles fondly at her.

“Basically, this part of your mind will take over your whole body and physically attack the enemy.” Kahi says, simply.

“Attack the enemy.” Soojung deadpans.

“The physical trainings you’re receiving are for preparation for this.” Kahi says. “Don’t worry, we know what we are doing.”

“You’re going to turn us into mindless soldiers.” Sehun says, voice curt. “That was the plan?”

“It is for your protection.” Kahi says, softly but definite.

“Not  us,” Sehun scoffs, while Soojung shakes her head in mild disbelief. “It’s for the protection of the codes.”

“Sehun, please.” Kahi pleads.

Sehun turns his head, pointedly ignoring his mother. Soojung sighs before sitting on one of the metal chairs.

“Let’s just get this over with.” Soojung says. “Sit down Sehun.”

“They’re not even giving us a choice!” Sehun exclaims, clearly agitated.

Soojung rolls her eyes. “That’s because they don’t have a choice too.”

“I don’t want to do this.” Sehun murmurs.

“I don’t want to do this either, Sehun.” Soojung says, exasperated. “But if we don’t then we won’t have anything to protect ourselves when Hannan decides that they want whatever’s inside our heads.”

Sehun glares at Soojung for a moment, carefully thinking about her words. Mulling over the pros and cons, like the Kaptan native that he is. With a defeated sigh, Sehun plops himself on the second chair.

“Has this been tested before?” Sehun grumbles.

“No.” Kahi breathes out, before quickly following up her words. “But don’t worry, it’s safe.”

She mouths a silent ‘thank you’ towards Soojung who only gives her a tight smile. Kahi begins to start the procedure by strapping each of their arms on the chairs. She carefully attaches a couple of colorful wires on their temples and on their chests, before going back to her computer and pressing a few keys.

“This will be ready in a few seconds.” Kahi says. She hands them visors similar to the ones they used in Hannan. “Wear these.”

Soojung looks at Sehun, watching if the boy would do as the doctor says. Sehun frowns at her, but obliges without a word. Soojung does the same, exhaling as she rests her head on the headrest of the chair. The temporary blindness is just as disconcerting as the first time Soojung experienced it. Soojung feels a light tap on her arm before hearing Kahi’s voice.

“Good luck.”

That is the only warning given to her before he procedure starts. Soojung lets out a short scream of pain when she feels needles pricking her skin all at the same time, at the back of her mind she’s sure she is hearing Sehun doing the same thing. Then there’s the feeling of the chemicals entering her veins, slowly and painfully travelling through her body.The fluid feels like molten lava slowly burning Soojung’s insides. She couldn’t even move anymore, the only thing she can do is scream for it to stop.

It seems like forever until the pain subsides, and by then Soojung’s throat is raw from screaming. She tries to move again but it is fruitless. It is like she is floating in an endless space. For a while there is nothing, until Soojung suddenly feels like she is standing up. Her sight fogs up, before slowly clearing and revealing her the inside of a greenhouse. Soojung whirls around to look at her surroundings. The plants are withered and the pathway messy, but Soojung can attest that this is her mother’s greenhouse, only, she isn’t supposed to be in Sinukwan right now.

“How did I get here?” Soojung murmurs to herself.

She notices a woman crouched down in the corner, there’s a tree blocking the sun from where she is, so the woman is deep in the shadows. She’s carefully snipping dead leaves from one bush, while humming a sad tune. Soojung slowly approaches her, careful not to step on any of the plants, even though most of them are already dead.

“Mom?” Soojung calls out. “Is that you?”

“What do you want Soojung?” The woman rasps.

Soojung frowns.  “What happened here? Why are the plants withered?”

The woman chuckles airily. “Don’t worry about them. They’ll come back again.”

“Right.” Soojung says, moving to stand behind the woman. “Mom, I found dad and Sooyeon.”

The woman freezes. “And?”

“They’re in Kaptan, mom.” Soojung says, excitedly. “They’re safe. You can come with me and I’ll take you to them.”

The woman quickly puts down her shears before standing up briskly. She stomps across the room, walking over leaves and twigs.

“Mom?” Sooung says.

“Don’t call me that!” The woman shrieks.

Soojung jumps at the sound. This is the only time Soojung hears her speak that loud.

“I’m sorry.” Soojung murmurs. “I know I’m not really your daughter but--”

The woman turns around to face Soojung. This time Soojung takes her time to see what the woman really looks like. The woman’s hair is wrapped around in a messy bun are blonde and not the deep brown that Soojung is used to. The lines of the woman’s eyes are lined with thick kohl and her mouth red as the petals of a rose. The woman gives her a menacing smile and Soojung had to step back when she realizes who it is.

“Doctor Jinah.” Soojung gasps. She feels something wrapping around her ankles, and she looks down to find vines twisting themselves up her legs, preventing her from moving away.

“You just revealed vital information for us, Soojung.” Jinah says as she walks back to where Soojung stands. “Thank you, dear.”

“No.” Soojung’s face darkens. “This can’t be happening.”

The vines continue to cover Soojung’s body, the thorns making scratches across her skin and drawing blood. Soojung groans in pain when she falls to her side, and the thorns reach her face.

“This will be your end Soojung.” Jinah says, laughing. “Buried beneath the soil of your beloved region.”

Soojung cries for help, calling out names of people who work for their family’s vineyard, wishing that one of them would hear her pleas and help her. But none of them come, Soojung’s cries turns into panicked sobs.

“Help me, help, please, help me, please…” Soojung chants.

Not far away she can hear Jinah’s continued laughter, then there’s the smell of smoke, as fire slowly make its way to where Soojung lies.

“No.. no please…”

The fire reaches Soojung’s feet, and it doesn’t take long before it engulfs her whole body. Soojung screams as she feels her skin melt under the heat. There is so much pain, and Soojung wishes so hard for it to just disappear. She even wishes to die, if that’s what has to happen for the pain to stop. She screams again and again, asking for death. Beseeching whoever it is listening to end her suffering.

Soojung screams one last time, and then there’s nothing.

 

* * *

 

Soojung wakes up to a quiet room. Her whole body is hurting and she is too tired to figure out if this is another one of Kahi’s hallucinations again. She hears movement to the side, so she turns her head to see. Sehun is sitting on the bed next to hers, his head resting on top of his folded knees. She wonders what kind of hallucinations Sehun saw, did his include another one of the Hannan administrators? Kyuhyun maybe? or Kangin?

There’s a glass of water and two pills on the table. Soojung moves to sit up before grabbing the pills and swallowing them quickly, then gulping down the water.

“You’re up?” Sehun asks.

“Obviously.” Soojung says, her voice is scratchy and it hurts to speak.

They stay quiet after that, opting to seclude themselves in their own thoughts. The door to the infirmary opens, and Soojung watches with a relieved sigh as Sooyeon quickly steps in. The older woman almost runs to where Soojung is. Sooyeon wraps Soojung in her arm before gently patting her head.

“Are you alright?” Sooyeon asks.

“I don’t know.” Soojung answers. And it was the truth.

 

* * *

 

The table rattles loudly when Sooyeon slams her hand on it, making Soojung jump on her seat. Yunho stares at her with mild interest.

“All these trainings you’re making them do are dangerous!” Sooyeon shouts. “Have you seen all the bruises Soojung has? Do you even bother checking up on the tests that doctor is doing on them?”

“I have important things to do Sooyeon.” Yunho says. “We’re at war.”

“The only reason war is going to happen is because of your stupid ideals!” Sooyeon retorts. “You’re putting the lives of innocent people at risk! All for your selfish reasons!”

“My reasons aren’t selfish.” Yunho says slowly. “I am doing this so we can finally be freed from the claws of Hannan. Why can’t you understand that?”

“And you’re willing to sacrifice people for that?” Sooyeon asks.

“Yes, if that is the only way.” Yunho answers.

“Even the life of your daughter?” Sooyeon asks again, finger pointing towards where Soojung is seated.

Yunho meets Soojung’s eyes, and the young girl could see how definite Yunho’s decision is with regards to this, it is his life’s mission.

“I will not let Soojung die.” Yunho says softly.

“Because I am important in your success in this war, am I right?” Soojung speaks up. She watches as Yunho’s mouth opens, struggling to find words. She waves him off before standing up. “I don’t want to talk about this today. I was physically beaten up by an instructor and mentally tortured by Kahi today. I think I deserve some rest.”

“Soojung--” Sooyeon starts.

“Don’t.” Soojung sighs. “I’m tired Sooyeon.”

Soojung leaves the room quietly and slowly makes her way towards the library. She finds a corner farthest from the busy part of the room, and sits herself down in between two old shelves. The smell of paper and the rustle of every page being turned send a calming feeling to her. She needs to think about this more clearly. Soojung is very much willing to fight for this war. She understands that Yunho and Kahi mean well, but their way is just too inhumane for her, plus Soojung doesn’t know if she’’ll be willing to be put through those hallucinations again. She knows that she needs them, but the feeling of being burned alive has been carved deep into her memory.

The voice of the librarian floats to where Soojung is sitting, announcing that the library will be closing down in a few minutes. Soojung offers the librarian a small smile when she passes by her on her way out of the room.

Sooyeon’s house is empty when Soojung arrives. The older woman must still be back in Yunho’s office, arguing with the man. Soojung hopes Sooyeon’s husband will pick her up from there soon, it is bad for a pregnany woman to be that angry after all.

Soojung reaches her room, takes off her shirt then her pants one by one before climbing on her bed and burying herself under the sheets.

For tonight she will rest.

 

 

* * *

 

Soojung tries to stay quiet as Sooyeon dabs medicine onto the small cuts on her hands. The older woman is doing her best in being gentle but the sting of the ointment is very painful and Soojung couldn’t help but wince or release a pained hiss every time it touches her skin.

“Sorry,” Sooyeon says for probably the hundredth time that day. They’re seated at the end of a line of a handful of sleeping toddlers, all of which are part of Sooyeon’s little daycare job.

“”It’s not your fault Sooyeon.” Soojung chastises in a quiet voice. “You have to stop apologizing for things you can’t control.”

“I’ll make dad stop all of this.” Sooyeon mutters.”Just wait. I know I can convince him.”

“And if he did cancel all of this, what will become of him?” Soojung asks. “Do you think he could just walk in back to Sinukwan without people asking questions? Do you think Hannan doesn’t know his connection with this thing?”

“But what about you?” Sooyeon murmurs, eyes watering with tears. She starts putting her tools back inside the medicine box.

“And what about me? I’ll be fine Sooyeon. You have nothing to worry about.” Soojung smiles. “Besides, I know more than how to punch someone now. Which reminds me...” Soojung’s smile turns teasing. “Wasn’t it you who taught me how to do that?”

“You were getting bullied.” Sooyeon reasons. “And I didn’t know if I would be coming back after the ceremony. You needed to protect yourself while I was gone.”

“I know.” Soojung whispers. “You can’t protect me all the time so I have to learn how to protect myself, right?”

“Yes.” Sooyeon sighs. “But I’m here now and that means it’s my job again to protect you.”

“No it’s not.” Soojung shakes her head before placing a gentle hand on top of Sooyeon’s growing belly. “Your job is to protect this child. And the only way you can do that is by staying as far away from the middle of this war as possible.”

“But that means I have to stay away from you too.” Sooyeon mutters, taking hold of Soojung’s hand in between both of hers.

“In the future, yes.” Soojung says. “I have a feeling things are going to be quite complicated soon. I need you and my future niece or nephew to be safe.”

There is silence then, both sides not knowing what to say next. The rustling of sheets catches their attention, a few of the children are slowly waking up. One of them, a little girl with cute button nose and has her mouth forming into an ‘o’ as she yawns. Her eyes blink slowly, before focusing on the two older women.

“Hi.”

 

* * *

 

They make the children fall into a line of twos, telling each of them to find a partner. The children all start running towards their friends, some of them even hugging, as if their chosen partner could be taken away from them. Soojung smiles at the cuteness of it all.

“Soojung.” Sooyeon sighs. “Can I ask a favor.”

Soojung turns to find her sister holding the hand of one small boy.

“What is it?”

“He said he couldn’t find a partner.” Sooyeon says. The child makes a grumbling sound. “Can you look after him for me?”

“Uh.” Soojung says.

“Just until we get to the cafeteria.” Sooyeon grins. “And maybe on the way back too.”

Soojung takes the hand of the boy, who grumpily obliges. “Sure. I guess.”

Soojung gets dragged to the end of the line, while Sooyeon moves to lead them. They start walking slowly, the minutes passing by quickly with the sounds of the children chatting or singing a folk song from their own region.

A tug on her hand has Soojung looking down towards the boy beside her.

“What?”

“Can I not hold your hand?” The little boy asks.

“Why?” Soojung asks back, a little dumbfounded by the question.

“‘Cause you’re too tall.” The boy answers.

“Oh, okay I guess.” Soojung mutters, letting go of the child’s hand. “Just stay in the line, alright?”

“Okay.” The cheeky smile that the boy has on her face worries Soojung a lot.

And sure enough, not even a moment later does the child starts running away from the group. Soojung freezes as she watches him go farther away.

“Soojung!” Sooyeon shouts, snapping Soojung back to her senses. “Catch him!”

Soojung bolts after the boy, following the sound of his giddy laughter. They pass through a couple of hallways before Soojung completely loses sight of him and ultimately gives up running, hands braced on her knees as she catches her breath. Soojung looks around, trying to figure out where she is. There are no signs on the wall, and the hallways are empty so Soojung starts knocking on the doors one by one.

On the third door, Soojung could see lights through the small glass design on the door. She knocks on it and starts waiting for a response, pressing her ear on the door to listen to what’s going on inside.

“That’s odd.” Soojung murmurs. “I can’t hear anything.”

Soojung knocks again, but still fails to get a response. With a grunt, Soojung puts her hand on the knob, she tests it for a bit, finding that it is unlocked, before turning it and opening a gap that is wide enough for her to see what’s inside the room.

The room inside is wide, much wider than the practice rooms that they use. There are a ten papers hanged on the opposite side of the room, each has a drawing of what looks to be a silhouette of the head and torso of a man.

A couple of steps away from the door where Soojung is hiding,a man is standing with his back towards Soojung. He is standing behind a blue line, and is fiddling with something in his hands. Soojung can’t see what is, and she is too embarrassed to disturb whatever it is the man is doing.

The man suddenly moves, lifting both of his arms in a straight line in front of hi body. Soojung still cannot see what he’s holding so she opens the door wider, and puts a foot inside the room, opting to sit down on the floor and wait for the man to finish so she can finally ask for directions and go back to her sister.

Soojung is just about to take another step inside the room when the sound of a loud explosion rips through her ears. It was like listening to the sound of lighting up close, deafening and painful. For a moment it is like she is back again to the night of their escape from Hannan, and Soojung has to remind herself again and again that she is safe and no one is here to hurt her.

The sound echoes through the enclosed space in the room for a minute and Soojung doesn’t even notice when her own hands went up to press against her ears. The next sound that Soojung hears is the one made by the banging of the door as it closes because Soojung isn’t holding it anymore.

“What are you doing?”

Soojung looks up to find the man now facing her. She hasn’t seen this face for a while but Soojung would definitely recognize it anywhere, specially that disgruntled frown. He puts his gun down on a small table before pulling something out of his ears.

“Jongin.” Soojung says, looking around and realizing that the place is actually an indoor shooting range. “It’s been a while.”

“I’ve been busy.” Jongin shrugs before pointedly looking at the bruises on Soojung’s face. “What happened to you?”

Soojung touches the side of her face, feeling the tender skin of her still healing wounds. “Physical training.” She says simply.

“They’re giving you physical training?” Jongin asks, moving forward towards Soojung so he can inspect her face closely.

“Me and Sehun actually.” Soojung answers, wincing when Jongin takes hold of her face and turns it here and there for inspection. “We need it.”

“Need it?” Jongin scoffs and lets his hands fall down to his sides. “Why? It’s not like you and pale-face are going to be used in the front lines when the war starts, right?”

“They didn’t tell you?” Soojung asks. “And stop calling Sehun that, he’s my friend.”

“Tell me what?” Jongin frowns. “That you and Sehun are related to the leaders of this group?”

Soojung makes a disdainful noise. “That and a few more important things.”

“What things?” Jongin asks, his tone curious.

“It’s a long story to explain.” Soojung sighs.”And I have to get back to my sister soon. I got lost while chasing after one of the children she’s looking after.”

“That does sound like something you would do.” Jongin laughs.

“Shut up.” Soojung murmurs. Laughing made Jongin’s face look softer, his expression a great contrast to how he usually looked when speaking with people, it made him younger and handsome. Soojung tries to hide the blush on her face by looking down and playing with her hair.

“I’ll help you find the kid.” Jongin offers, a smile playing on his lips.

“Thanks.” Soojung says.

Jongin tucks one hand inside his pockets while the other reaches for the door. “Let’s go then.”

 

* * *

 

Test1 Result For Subject #120494 = FAIL

 

Test1 Result For Subject #241094 = FAIL

 

Cortisol Levels For Both Subjects = HIGH

 

Move To Test2?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Disclaimer: i made up a lot of the science stuff here ... so ... please don't use it for your science projects please hahaha. 
> 
> btw. I have a [tumblr](http://polychromeboxes.tumblr.com) !!! this story is also posted in my [livejournal](http://polychromeboxes.livejournal.com) and my [AFF](http://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/425517). thank you for reading!


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